
BoQk.B .5^W^ 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS 



OF THE 



American Museum of Natural 
History. 



Vol. II, Part I. 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE BLACKFOOT INDIANS. 







BY 


CLARK 


WISSLER 






AND 


D. 


C. 


DUVALL. 



NEW YORK: 

Published by Order of the Trustees. 

September, 1908. 



American Museum of Natural History. 

PUBLICATIONS IN ANTHROPOLOGY. 



The results of research conducted by the Anthropological staff of the Museum, 
unless other\vise provided for, are published in a series of octavo volumes of about 
350 pages each, issued in parts at irregular intervals, entitled Anthropological Papers 
of the American Museum of Natural History. This series of publication aims to 
give the results of field-work conducted by the above department, supplemented 
by the study of collections in the Museum. 

The following are on sale at the Museum at the prices stated: 

Vol. I. Part I. Technique of some South American Feather-work. By Charles 

W. Mead. Pp. 1-18, Plates I-IV, and 14 text figures. Jan- 

uarjs 1907. Price, $0.25. 
Part II. Some Protective Designs of the Dakota. By Clark Wissler. 

Pp. 19-54, Plates V-VII, and 26 text figures, Febmary, 1907. 

Price, S0.50. 
Part III. Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. By A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 55- 

139. May, 1907. Price, $0.25. 
Part IV. Ethnology of the Gros Ventre. By A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 141- 

282, Plates VIII-XIII, and 44 text figures. April, 1908. 

Price, SI. 50. 
Part V. The Hard Palate in Normal and Feeble-minded Individuals. 

By Walter Channing and Clark Wissler. Pp. 283-350, 

Plates XIV-XXII, S text figures, and 19 tables. August, 

1908. .Price, $0.50. 
Part \l. Iroquois Silvenvork. By M. R. Harrington. Pp. 351-370, 

Plates XXllI-XXIX, and 2 text figures. August, 1908. 

Price, .$0.50. 
\..l. II. I'lirt I. Mytholof.-y of the Blackfoot Indians. By Clark Wissler and 

1). C. Duvall. Pp. 1-164. September, 1908. Price, $1.00. 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS 



OF THE 



American Museum of Natural 
History. 



Vol. II, Part 1. 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE BLACKFOOT INDIANS. 



BY 

CLARK WISSLER 

AND 

D. C. DUVALL. 



NEW YORK: 

Published by Order of the Trustees. 

September, 1908. 

Monograph 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS 

OF THE 

American Museum of Natural History 

Vol. II, Part I. 



2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 



9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 



MYTHOLOGY OF THE BLACKFOOT INDIANS. 

By Clark Wissler axd D. C. Duvall. 

CONTENTS. 



Introduction .... 

I. Tales of the Old Man 

1. The Making of the Earth . 
Languages confused on a ]Mount 
Order of Life and Death . 
Why People die Forever 
The First Marriage 
Old Man leads a Migration 
Old Man and the Great Spirit 
Old Man gambles 
Old Man and the Rolling Stone 
Old Man roasts Squirrels in Hot Ashes 
Old Man makes a Drive, and loses Meat in a Race 
Old Man sees Berries in the Water 
Old Man loses his Eyes 
Old Man and the Fire-Leggings . 
Old Man frightens a Bear . 

Old Man gets fast in an Elk-Skull, and loses his 
Old Man cooks Two Babies 
Old Man's Escape .... 
Old Man deceived by Two Women . 
Old Man sees Girls picking Strawberries 
Old Man penem trans flumen mittit . 
Old Man makes Buffalo laugh 
Adventures of Old ]\Ian 

II. Star Myths . . . ■ 

1. The Twin-Brothers, or Stars 

2. Blood-Clot, or Smoking-Star 

3. The FLxed-Star . 



Hair 



Page. 
5 
19 
19 
19 
19 
21 
21 
22 
23 
24 
24 
25 
27 
29 
29 
31 
32 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
36 
36 
37 
40 
40 
53 
5S 



(1) 



Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. {\o\. II, 



4. Scar-Face 
(a) Version by a Piegan Man 
(&) Version by a Piegan Woman 

5. Cuts-Wood 

6. The Seven Stars 

7. The Bunched Stars . 

8. The Moon-Womaij 
III. Ritualistic Origins 

1. The Beaver-Medicine . 
(o) Northern Blackfoot Version 
{h) Blood Version 
(c) North Piegan Version 
(c/) Piegan Version 

2. Otter-Woman . 

3. Tobacco-Seeds and Beaver-Medicine 

4. Crow Indian Water-Medicine 

5. Scabby-Round-Robe 

6. The Elk- Woman 

(a) Blood Version 

(b) Piegan Version 

7. The Buffalo-Rock 
(a) Piegan Version 
(6) Northern Blackfoot Version 

8. Origin of the Medicine-Pipe 

9. The Worm-Pipe 

10. A Pipe from the Seven Stars 

11. The Black-Covered Pipe 

12. The Otter-Lodge 

13. The Bear-Lodge 

14. The Horse-Lodge 

15. Black and Yellow Buffalo-Painted Lodges 

16. The Crow-Painted Lodge 

17. The Bear-Knife 

18. The Smoking-Otter . 

19. The Medicine-Shields 

20. Never-Sits-Down's Shield 

21. The Eagle-Head Charm 

22. The Pigeons 

23. The Mosfjuitoes . 

24. The Braves 

25. Dog-Chief . 

26. Has-Scars-All-Over . 

27. Scabby-Bull 

28. The Horns and the Matoki 
(a) Blood Version 
(6) North Piegan Version 

29. The Kit-Fox 

30. Tile Catchers 

31. The Buffalo's Adopted Child 



Page. 

61 

61 

65 

66 

68 

71 

72 

74 

74 

74 

75 

76 

77 

78 

7» 

80 

81 

83 

83 

84 

85 

85 

87 

8c> 

91 

91 

91 

93* 

92 

94 

94 

95 

95 

98 

99 

102 

103 

105 

105 

1()() 

107 

109 

112 

117 

1 17 

1 19 

\1\ 

121 

121 



190S. 



Wisslcr and Duvall, Bladifoot Mythology. 



IV. Cultural and Other Origins 

1. The Whirhvind-Boy . 

2. The Bladder Story 

3. The Water-Bull . 

4. Red-Head 

0. The Meeting in the Cave 

6. Why Dogs do not Talk 

7. Why Women are able to stick the Pole.- 

of the Lodge after Dark 

8. Contest between the Thunder-Bird and the 

9. The Raven Rescues People 

10. Why Grasshoppers Spit 

11. How Medicine-Hat got its Name 
V^. Miscellaneous Tales 

1. The Lost Children 

2. The Woman who got Meat from the Cliff 

3. Bear-Moccasin, the Great Medicine-Man 

4. The Split Feather 

5. The Treacherous Wives^ 

6. The Woman who Married a Snake 

7. The Woman who Married Filth 

8. The Woman who Married a Horse 

9. The Woman with a Sharpened Leg 

10. The Woman without a Body 

11. The Man Cut in two below the Waist 

12. The Ghost- Woman 

13. Fed by a Ghost 

14. Fed by a Coyote 

15. Riding the Buffalo . 

16. The Kutenai Black-Tail Deer-Dance 

17. The Horned- Toad and the Frog 

18. Turtle goes to War 

19. The A^ arrior's Dilemma 

20. A Warrior's Duty and his Love 

21. The Wolverene- Woman 

22. Seven-Heads 

23. The Sand Hills . 



ito 
Ra^ 



the H 



oles 



en 



f the 



Ean 



Pagk. 
12(5 
120 
127 
IJS 
12!) 
132 
133 

133 

134 

134 

134 

135 

138 

138 

141 

143 

147 

148 

150 

151 

152 

153 

154 

154 

155 

156 

156 

157 

157 

159 

160 

160 

162 

162 

163 

163 



INTRODUCTION. 

Tiiis collection of narratives was matle among the several divisions of 
the Blackfoot Intlians during the years 1903-07. Unless otherwise stated, 
the translations were made by D. C. Duvall, and revised by Clark Wissler. 
The usual method was to record literal oral translations, which were in turn 
rendered with some freedom, though the translator's idiom has been retained 
wherever feasible. In every case, however, both the translator and the 
editor have sought to reproduce the narrative with the original sequence of 
incidents and explanatory ideas. In narration the Blackfoot often repeat 
sentences at irregular intervals, as if they wished to prevent the listener 
from forgetting their import. Xaturally such repetitions were eliminated 
in the translations. A few narratives were recorded as texts. While texts 
wull be indispensable for linguistic research, the present condition of Black- 
foot m}1;hology is such that its comparative study would not be materially 
facilitated by such records. Each narrator has his own version, in the 
telling of which he is usually consistent; and, while the main features of the 
myths are the same for all, the minor differences are so great that extreme 
accuracy of detail with one indi\idual would avail little. The method 
pursued with the most important myths was to discuss them with different 
individuals, so as to form an opinion as to the most common arrangement 
of incidents; a statement of such opinions being given as footnotes to those 
narrations in which great variations were observed. This variable condi- 
tion may be interpreted as a breaking-down of Blackfoot mythology, but 
there is another factor to be considered. INIyths are told by a few indivitluals, 
who take pride in their ability and knowledge, and usually imjiress their 
own individuality ri])on the form of the narrative. Thus it seems equally 
probable that the various versions represent individual contributions, and, 
in a certain sense, are the ownership-marks of the narrators. Once when 
discussing this matter with a Blood Indian, tlu' venerable old man jnilled 
up a common ragweed, saying, "The ])arts of this weetl all branch off' from 
the stem. They go different ways, but all come from the same root. So 
it is with the different versions of a myth." Hence, to say that any one 
version of these myths is correct would be ])n>])osterous, because they have 
not now, and probably never did have, an absolutely fixed form. The only 

(5) 



6 Antliropological Papers Avierican Musewn of N^atui-al History. [Vol. IT, 

rational criterion seems to be the approximate form in -which the myth is 
most often encountered. So far as practicable, we have made this the 
basis of selection; but doubtless many narratives containing unusual features 
have passed into our collection unobserved. In some instances Ave have 
given excejitional versions, because they contained important cultural data, 
exercising due care by duplication or otherwise that no essential incidents 
should be omitted. In a few cases we have given versions from the various 
divisions of the Blackfoot. So far as our observation goes the differences 
between versions from these divisions are no greater than between indiviil- 
ual versions within a single division. 

While the greater part of these narratives were collected among the 
Piegan in jNIontana, the North Piegan, Blood, and Northern Blackfoot in 
Canada are Avell represented. As may be expected under conditions just 
stated, the contributors were relatively few, — twenty-one in all. No claim 
for completeness is made. Our effort has been to present narratives in 
which the tone of the mythical age predominated, or in which the super- 
natiu-al was the main interest. In a future paj)er we hope to present some 
typical tales of adventure, and a collection of esoteric narratives in con- 
nection with a discussion of certain aspects of Blackfoot culture. We made 
no effort to collect ordinary humorous tales (of Avhich there are a great 
number, chiefly obscene), because none of those encountered contained 
mythical or supernatural elements. 

A number of Blackfoot myths have been recorded elsewhere. The first 
to mention the subject seems to have been the younger Henry, whose journal 
(1808), together with that of Thompson's, contains a brief though somewhat 
confused statement of the Old ^Nlan, the Moon, and the Sun.^ In 1884 
Clark reported briefly some observations on mythology in his well-known 
work - on the sign language. A year or two later a}i])eared a collection of 
traditions from various Canadian tribes by Father Petitot,^ in A\liich a few 
references were made to IMackfoot mythology. Tlu^ next observer appears 
to hav(> been John Maclcvui, who from time to time jiublished abstracts 
and versit)ns of various myths.* By far the most complete collection was 
made by George Bird (Trinnell, containing in all something over thirty 
narratives."' A few myths have Ix-en jMiblislied l)y li. X. Wilson." So far 
no other pnl)lications giving flrst-hand data have come to our attention. 

' New Light on the Earlv History ol' tlie Greater Northwest. Edited l).v Elliott Coues, 
1897, I). .528. 

- Iiidiiin Sign I>anguage, 1885. 

^ 'ri'iidilions Indieiuies du t'iuuida Nord-ouest. 1886. 

1 .louriud of Amerieaii I'olk-I.ore (Vol. Ill, 1890, p. -'96: XOl. M. 1S9:5, p. 165); Tlie 
Indians ol Canada, 1892; Canadian Savage Folk, 1896. 

« IJlaekfoot Lodge Tales, 1892, revised 1903; Journal of .\nierican Folk-Lore (Vol. VI, 
1893, p. 44). 

« The .\nieriean Antiquarian, Vol. XV, 1893, np. 149, 150, 200-203: Report of the British 
Association fortlie Advancement of Science, \'ul. I.XNll. IS9S. ]ip. 7SS. 7S9. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot MyOiology. 7 

The narratives collected by us contain incidentally and othcnvise a 
great deal of important data on the culture of the Blackfoot Indians, which 
we expect to use in the future. Accordingly the senior author has classified 
and arranged them to facilitate such use. Those of om- readers interested 
solely in comparative mythology will doubtless not be hampered by this, 
if they ignore the main headings. Proceeding from the point of view ju.st 
stated, it appears that according to association, content, and function, the 
narratives fall into four groups, — Tales of the Old ]\Ian, Star ]Myths, 
Ritualistic Origin, and Cultural or other Origins. To this may be added a 
miscellaneous collection in which, for the most })art, each narrative is its 
own excuse for being. A brief discussion of these grouj)s may serve as a 
characterization of Blackfoot mythology. 

The Old Man, or Napiw*, has been given the first place in our collection. 
The collection of Grinnell contains several adventures not found in ours. 
One of these is characterized by the following: 

Old Man goes out to hunt with the wolves. When sleeping with them at night, 
he is kept warm by lying under their tails. The next day, Old Man disregards an 
injunction against opening his eyes, and is hit on the nose with a bone. Later he 
retaliates, and kills the wolf who threw the bone. In this story, also occurs the only 
known case in which Old Man becomes an animal. By request he is transformed 
into a wolf; but this seems to be lost sight of in the course of the narrative, where he 
appears in his true form. Later he encounters Chief Bear, and shoots arrows into 
him and several other bears. Then he meets Frog going for medicine, takes Frog's 
skin, puts it on, and, so disguised, goes in and kills the bears.' 

This last incident bears a striking similarity to part of an Algonkin myth 
recorded among the Sauk and Fox by Dr. William Jones.- Grinnell also 
records an incident in which Old Man plucks the hair from a fox and sends 
him out to attract buffalo. The buffalo are killed with laughing at the 
antics of the fox. While Old Man is butchering, it becomes cold and the 
fox freezes stiff. The buffalo laughing himself to death occurs in our col- 
lection, but is due to the Old INIan's acts. 

According to Maclean, the Old iNIan was a party to the stealing of bags 
containing summer and winter.^ 

Petltot says that by tradition the three divisions of the ])eople — Xorth.rn 
Blackfoot, Bloods, and Piegan — are the respective offspring of the Old 
Man's three sons.'* 

The creation of the world from nuid brought to the surface by a diving 



1 Blackfoot Lodge Tales, op. cit., p. 149. , , . ,. ,, , ,• , ^-,,- 

2 Culture-Hero Myth of the Sauks and Foxes (Jouriuil of American I-olk-Lore, \ ol. Xl\ , 
p. 225). 

^ Journal of American Folk-Lore, Vol. VI, p. 166. 

* Petltot, Traditions Indiennes du Canada Nord-ouest, p. 493. 



8 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xaiural History. [Vol. II, 

animal is a frequent incident in the mythology of central North America. 
In addition to the fragment in our collection, Blackfoot versions have been 
recorded elsewhere. Maclean makes use of them in several publications, 
one of which runs as follows : — 

"The aged men of the camps tell us of the time when there was nothing but 
water, and the Old Man was sitting upon a log, with four animals. Pondering over 
his situation, he thought that there must be something under the water, and, anxious 
to learn what might be there, he sent the animals down after each other, till the last 
to descend was the muskrat, and he alone returned to tell the story of his explora- 
tions, bearing in his mouth some mud, which the Old Man took, and rolling it in the 
palm of his hand, it grew rapidly and fell into the water. Soon it assumed such 
dimensions that he stepped upon it, and placing there a wolf, this animal ran swiftly 
over the plastic matter, and wherever he stepped an indentation was made, which 
became a valley, and where he placed not his foot the plains and mountains 
appeared. The water rushed into some of the indentations, and these became 
lakes." 1 

In confirmation of this the following may be noted: — 

"At a certain time, it happened that all the earth was covered with water. The 
'Old Man' (Napiw) was in a canoe, and he thought of causing the earth to come up 
from the abyss. To put this project into execution he used the aid of four animals, 
— the duck, the otter, the badger and the muskrat. The muskrat proved to be the 
best diver. He remained so long under water that when he came to the surface he 
was fainting, but he had succeeded in getting a little particle of earth, which he 
brought between the toes of his paw. This particle of earth the "Old Man" took, 
and blowing on it he swelled it to such an extent as to make the whole earth of it. 
Then it took him four days to complete his work, and make the mountains, rivers, 
plants, and beasts." - 

The m}i;h was also known to the Sarcee in the same form as above. ^ 
The writer once asked a well-informed old Piegan man if such a story was 
known to his people. His reply was to the effect that he had heard of it, 
but regarded it as a white man's tale. This may be an error, for Henry 
wrote about a century ago as follows: — 

"At first the world was one body of water inhabited by only one great white man 
and his wife, who had no children. This man, in the course of time, made the earth, 
divided the waters into lakes and rivers," ■* etc. 

Tlius there seems no reason to doubt but that this myth was known to 
the Blackfoot in the same general form as was current among the numerous 
tribes of the Algonkin group. It may not have been current among the 

1 Canarlian Savage Folk, p. 51. 

2 Hah', KcTiort of the Uiitish Association for the Advancement of Science, 1886, p. 704. 

3 Wilson, Uejiort of tlie British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1889, p. 224. 
•* New Light on the Early History of the Greater Northwest, p. 528. 



190S.] Wisslcr and Durall, Blackjoot Mi/thologi/. 9 

Piegan, since Henrv was among the Xorthern Blackfoot (from whom our 
version was obtained), and [Maclean seems to have secured his tlata from the' 
Bloods. That the Blackfoot formerly had a well-clefined creation myth, 
in which the Old Man took the initiative in producing and transforming 
the world, is indicated by several writers. Those noted above give more 
or less in detail a running account of the peopling of the earth and the in- 
struction of mankind in the art of living. While these incidents do not occur 
in detail in the Old Man mollis recorded in this paper, they are occasionally 
implied. Such origins are at present often assigned to the Old [Man without 
the formality of a myth. It will be noted that the greater part of the tales 
collected by us recite the absurd, humorous, obscene, and brutal incidents 
in the Old Man's career. No ritualistic or ceremonial practices appear to 
be based upon any of these narratives, though it may have been otherwise 
in the past. On the other hand, connected with them are the suggestions of 
origins for many aspects of material culture, such as the bufl'alo-drive, 
the making of weapons, methods of dressing skins, etc. A considerable 
number of places and topographical features were associated with his ad- 
ventures; as Old [Man's River, Tongue Flag River, Old [Man's Gambling- 
Place, Old Man's Sliding-Place, Rolling-Stone Creek, etc. In fact, there 
seems a tendency to give all of his adventures a definite location in what 
is now Alberta. 

From the accounts of all observers, it appears that confusion exists in 
assigning some myths. Thus Grinnell records as adventures of the Old 
[Man our myths containing the incident of the dog and the stick (p. 52), 
the placing of the crow in the smoke-hole (p. 51), the woman with a snake- 
lover (p. 150), and the rolling head (p. 154). V\e found differences of 
opinion on these and other tales, but have in our list the ones rarely if ever 
challenged. Taking into consideration all the data at hand, we are of the 
opinion that there has been a disintegration of the creative and cultural 
origin m}1;hs concerning the Old [Man. This o])inion is }iartly based upon 
the agreement of these m}1:hs with those attributed to similar c-haracters 
among the Cree, Ojibwa, Fox, and other divisions of the Algonldn stock, 
for which a common origin is assumed, and also partly on the present attitude 
of the Blackfoot themselves toward these m^-ths. 

For several decades at least, the Blackfoot have considered the Old [Man 
as an evil character, in most respects trivial, who long ago passed on to other 
countries. Whenever the writer asked if the Old [Man was ever ])rayed to, 
the absurdity of the question i)rovoked merriment. The usual rei)ly was, 
that no one had enough confidenCv^ in him to make such an a])i)eal. In 
daily conversation his name is often used as a synonyme for inunorality. 
However, it must not be implietl that he is regarded as an evil spirit. His 



10 Anthropological Papers American Mvsetim of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

name is especially associated -with things obscene, and pertaining to sexual 
immorality. I have heard the Piegan say that so and so "must be trying to 
be like the Old ^Nlan; he cannot be trusted A\ith women." 

We have occasionally noted a tendency to assign modern obscene anec- 
dotes to this character, and it may well be that many of the tales long 
attributed to him have been accumulatetl by the laws of association. 
The unfortunate human tendency to appreciate keenly the humor in such 
anecdotes seems sufficient to account for their survival and accumulation 
long after belief in and respect for the Old INIan as a creator, teacher, and 
transformer, has passed the verge of extinction. 

Certain differences of opinion among former ol)servers make it desirable 
to reconsider our assumption that these myths are survivals from a much 
larger group constituting the ancient basic beliefs of the Blackfoot. The 
first account we find bearing u]:)on this point was written by Alexander 
Henry in 1809.^ He speaks of "one first great white man and his wife" 
to whom all things are due, but states that he went to live in the sun and is 
called Xah-toos, while his wife went to the moon. Unfortunately, Henry 
is not sufficiently specific for the identification of the "one first great white 
man." Among the ])resent Blackfoot j^eople, Natos refers to the Sun-]Man, 
whose consort is the Moon-AYoman, a character regarded as distinct from the 
Old Man. The term used by Henry is ])robably a translation; for, in his 
comparative vocabularies, "Nappeekoon" is given as the efjuivalent of 
"white man," the term still ap}:)lied to members of our race. This of itself 
makes it probable that Napiw'' is the character referred to in the above. 

Later, about 1874, R. P. Lacombe writes that Xapiw"' went to live in 
the Sun.- M. Lacombe is quoted by Hale (1885) to the eftect that Xapiw'' 
and Xatos are distinct, and that the former is a secondary character.^ 
Maclean also states that Xapiw'*^ is a secondary character.* Grinnell 
(1892) expresses the opinion that X'apiw^ and Xatos are the same and that 
the latter is a more recent conception.'' It is of interest to note that the earlier 
writers are disposed to treat Xatos, the Sun, as the home of the Old Man, 
while the later ones make each a character. ISIy own information is em- 
phatic in indicating a present distinction between the two. This is supported 
by the following statement from a man foi' many years an interested observer 
of Blackfoot customs: — 

"Tlie Sun is thon the principal deity. . . .I'Jiually erroneous is the view that they 
addressed prayers to, or in any manner worshipped, 'Xa))i,' the Old ^lan of the 
legends, the blunderer, the immoral mischief-maker." '■ 



> New Liglit on the Earlj' History of the Greater Northwest, op. cit., pp. 527, 528. 

2 Petitot, op. cit., p. 504. 

3 Hiile, op. fit., p. 704. 

^ Caiiudian Savage Folk, p. 52. 
'■ Grinnell, op. cit., p. 25S. 

•> H. N. Wilson, Report of the liritish Association for the Advancement of Science, 189S, 
p. 7S9. 



1908.] Wissler otuJ DvraU, Blaclfoot Mi/lJinlogi/. 11 

There are several obvious ways in which the ditt'erent statements recorded 
above can be interpreted. It may be reasonable to assume that the later 
writers were better informed, and therefore able to distinguish between two 
mythical characters having some things in common. On the other hand, 
the observations may be of ecjual weight, and so rejiresent a change of belief. 
While the means are not at hand for the solution of this (juestion, it may be 
noted that the myths so far recorded are quite consistent with the modern 
Blackfoot belief that Xajiiw" and Natos are distinct characters. For 
example, in Grinnell's version of the theft of the fire-leggings, Xapiw'' 
steals them from Xatos. Again, the Old Woman, or ]Moon-Woman, is 
practically always associated with Xatos as his respected and honored con- 
sort; while mention of such a character seldom occurs in the myths of the 
Old ]Man group. Further, in ceremonies Xatos is often addressed as 
Xapiwa, but, so it was stated to us, in the sense of old and venerable man. 
This suggests that the sole difficulty may be due to verbal confusion in. the 
native tongue, obscuring a former distinction between Xapiw'^ and Xatos. 
However this may be, the import of the preceding seems to be, that, for a 
number of years at least, the Old INIan has been a secondary mythological 
character. The problem is, then, to determine whether this secontlary 
relation is due to gradual displacement by intrusive beliefs, or to the fact that 
the belief in the Old INIan is in itself of recent introduction. 

While we have no intention of making a conijiarative study of these 
myths, a few statements may not come amiss. The Okl Man of the Thomp- 
son Indians, is, like the Old jNIan of the Blackfoot, a secondary character, 
though relatively less prominent, and, according to Boas, he is not made 
an object of prayer, and not held in particular reverence.' In the Plains, it 
appears that the Old Man of the Crow, Xih'a'Va" of the Arapaho, Xix'a"t 
of the Gros Ventre, and Xa])iw" of the Blackfoot, have a great ileal in com- 
mon. They were in certain respects creators, but also tricksters; and 
many vile pranks were common to all. The general impression one gets 
from comparative reading of all these tales is that the Blackfoot and the 
Crow stand in close relation as opposed to the Arapaho and the (iros ^'entre. 
However, the collections from the Crow and Gros Ventre are not complete. 
It is interesting to note that the Arapaho Xih'a"va" is the word for "white 
man," as is also the Cheyenne Vihuk and the Blackfoot Xapiw". The 
Arapaho Hixtcaba Xih'a"ca" (Above- White-INIan, God) is identical in 
meaning with Spo'^toom Xaj)iwa. Again, the statement of Kroeber, that 
"in none of the Arapaho myths is there the slightest trace of any animal 
or spider-like qualities attributed to Xih'a"(,'a"," - api)lies e(|ually well to 



1 Thompson River Indian Traditions, p. 7. 

2 George A. Dorsey and Alfred L. Kroeber Traditions of llie .Vrapalio. (.Field Columbian 
Museum Publication 81, 1903, footnote, p. 7). 



12 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. II, 

Napiw^, also entirely human. This is certainly in contrast to many of the 
surrounding tribes in whose mythologies similar antics are attributed to a 
rabbit, coyote, or spider-like person. Thus we have another of those fre- 
quent suggestions that the Algonkin tribes of the Plains themselves consti- 
tute a sub-group. 

It is unfortunate that so little Cree mythology has been recorded, as the 
few narratives published by Russell ^ suggest the closest relation to those 
of the Blackfoot so far encountered. Similarities to Fox and Ojibwa m^ihs 
seem much more numerous among the Blackfoot than among the Arapaho, 
Gros Ventre, or Cheyenne. Thus, the wide distribution of these charac- 
teristics among the various Algonkin speaking tribes of the Missouri-Sas- 
katchewan area, seems to favor the view that the Old INIan myths represent 
the older basic beliefs of the Blackfoot. In this connection the failure ta 
find in the present mythological beliefs evidence of the identity of the Old 
Man and the Sun, justifies the assumption that the secondary character of 
the former is due to the intrusion of the latter. 

According to the testimony of many writers, the Blackfoot Indians 
took great interest in the heavens, and possessed considerable astronomical 
knowledge. However that may be, this collection contains an unusual 
number of Star ]M}^hs. We have considered them as such because the chief 
characters either appear as heavenly bodies (though sometimes in disguise), 
or become such at the end of their earthly careers. In many cases this 
transformation forms no essential part of the narrative, being a mere inci- 
dent, or as it were an afterthought by the narrator. This is especially notice- 
able in the Twin-Stars, or Brothers, where we find an elaborate myth com- 
posed primarily of the widely distributed Found-in-the-Grass. The same 
may be said of Blood-Clot or Smoking-Star. On the other hand, we find 
the Morning-Star as an important character in a number of myths, where 
he appears as the son of the Sun and ]Moon. In Blackfoot religion these 
three are in many respects a sacred trio to whom prayers are addressed 
individually and collectively. Again, in the INIorning-Star myths we find 
the well-known incident of a woman marrying a star, in this case the Morn- 
ing-Star himself, whose son by this union becomes the Fixed-Star. Taking 
the entire eight Star Myths as a whole, but three a})pearto be original with 
the Blackfoot, — Cuts- Wood, Scar-Face, and the Bunched-Stars. 

A large number of myths function as ritualistic origins, the rituals them- 
selves being in part dramatic interpretations of the narratives. \et, while 
the rituals are fixed and rigidly adhered to, the myths show the same wide 
variations in detail as those of other groups. This is contrary to ex])eetation. 

• 1 Frank Russell, Explorations in the Far North, 1898, pp. 201-220. 



1908.] Wissler ajul Durall, Blackfoot Mythology. 13 

We cannot at present tleeide whether this is best exphiined by assuming 
these myths to be secondary pojndar accounts of the ceremonies comjiosint^ 
the rituals, or otherwise. In most ceremonies the origin of the ritual is 
regarded as the result of a personal relation l)etween its first owner and its 
supernatural giver; each ceremony, or tlemonstration of the ritual, being a 
reproduction of this formal transfer. Ihus the myths are, in a sense, pre- 
ludes to the rituals; yet, when one asks for the reason or significance of a 
specific part of a ritual, he is referred at once to the myth. Thus the great 
variation in these narratives is difficult to interj)ret. 

In passing, one important aspect of this group deserves attention. It 
will be seen that these narratives can be placed in two divisions, according 
to the relation between the incidents and the rituals associated therewith. 
In many cases the relation is primary, or the myth itself recounts the inci- 
dents leading directly to the transfer. Also this transfer is the main incident 
or climax of the narrative. In other cases the myth stands aj)art, having 
its own culminating incident, after which we are informeil, parenthetically 
as it were, that one of the characters came into the jiossession of a ritual. 
Rarely are we told in such cases that a definite relation exists between the 
origin of this ritual and the incidents composing the narrative, though some 
kind of relation is always implied. In this collection there are twenty myths 
bearing the primary relation, and eleven bearing the secondary. I'o be 
exact, five of the Star ]Myths show ritualistic functions, oiie of which may 
be considered primary, and four secondary. Thus, in a total of thirty- 
six ritualistic m>1;hs, twenty-one appear to bear the jirimary relation, and 
fifteen the secondary. Thus we are safe in assuming that at least a third 
of all Blackfoot ritualistic origin nnlhs belong to the secondary division. 
As may be anticipated, the character of the myths in one division dift'ers 
considerably from that of the other. Those of the secondary ty])e are 
decidedly classical, and show greater art in composition than those of the 
primary. The people seem to appreciate them for the sake of their power 
to charm, while the sacred associations of the jirimary myths are sufficient 
to make them respected. 

The most suggestive difference, however, appears when a coni})ai-ative 
view of these di\'isions is made. Those in the primary group are not often 
for.nd in the m^1:hologies of other tribes: in fact the incident of a woman 
with beaver-children is the only certain exception we have so far encounteri'd. 
On the other hand, many m\'ths of the secondary division are widely dis- 
tributed among other tribes. Here we find the well-known Blood-Clot, 
Found-in-the-Grass (Twin-Stars), The AVoman-who-ISIarrieil a Star, Tlu' 
Girl Avith a Dog for a Lover (Xo. 25), The Woman who ^larried a Bull 
(Xos. 26, 27), The Buftalo-Boy (Xo. 28), The Child Reared by the Buffalo 



14 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

(No. 31), The BrotluT on the Desert Island (Xo. IS), not to mention minor 
incidents of these and other narratives. 

There are, however, exceptions, the chief of which are Scar-Face and 
Scabby-Roimd-Robe, to which we have so far foiuid no parallels. The 
natnral inference from the foregoing is, that in the primary division the 
myths and the rituals had a common origin, while in the secondary they 
have come into association, by accident or otherwise, long after their respec- 
tive forms became fixed. ^ The intrusion of rituals practised by other tril)es 
may have been the occasion of many such associations. Thus we find that 
the secondary character of the Origin ]Myths for the societies of high rank — 
as the Bulls, Horns, Dogs, etc. — is most pronounced in those societies 
derived, according to Blackfoot tradition, from other tribes. That the 
traditions in these instances are founded upon fact is rendered exceedingly 
probable by the peculiar distribution of these same societies among the 
tribes of the jNIissouri basin.-' With one exception, the myths associated 
with the svm-dance are also secondary. While there are no traditions 
indicating foreign origin for this ceremony as a whole, its general distribu- 
tion makes such an origin probable. Yet it is Avith this ceremony that the 
highly original Scar-Face myth is secondarily associated. This exception 
in the case of a very important myth indicates that the cause of the secondary 
association cannot be wholly tlue to a tendency to assimilate foreign tales. 
Such inference is sustained by the presence of a considerable number of 
foreign tales without ritualistic associations of any kind, and by the entire 
absence of such associations in the Old Man group, which we have shown 
to be a very important part of the older Blackfoot mythology. 

The discussion of this problem would carry us into a study of the rituals 
themselves, a subject we pro]iose to take up in a future publication. We 
may, however, offer a tentative inter})retation of the preceding peculiarities. 
Assuming the tales of the Old ]Man as older and fundamental, the absence 
of ritualistic associations among them may be due to the more recent devel- 
opment of the j)rcsent ceremonies. The beaver-medicine, seemingly one 
of the oldest rituals, and ap])arently the creation of a single shaman, set the 
type to which all other rituals tended to conform. In this case the myths 
still tend to the ])riniarv association, ov to conserve tli(> type. Later rituals 
were brought in from other tribes and adjusted to the })revailing type, even 
to the introduction of new myths, that would also tend to be foreign, though 
not necessarily. Further, according to our data, rituals originating in slia- 
manistic dreams have sometimes been attributed to heroes in well-known 



' For an example of a inylli incorporated in a ritual, see Franz Boas, The Social Organiza- 
tion and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiull Indians, 1S97, J). 662. 

- A. I,. Jvroeber in the Proceedings of the International Congress of Americanists, 1906, 
Vol. II, pp. 53-64. 



1908.] Wissler and Dttrall, Blackfool Mijlholoyij. 15 

muhs, the hero having- appeared and transferred the ritual. Thus we have 
the functioning- of a well-known factor in primitive speculative thought. 
The tendency to find a mythical origin for every important ceremonial 
practice is common to all peoples, as is also the tendency to conventionaiizt- 
the kind of a.ssociations formed. 

Another characteristic of this group is the freciuency with which a woman 
plays an important part in the transfer of rituals and other powers, — the 
Elk-Woman, the Otter-Woman, the Woman-who-]Married-the-Buffalo, 
the Woman-who brought-the-Pipe, etc. In almost every case tlie woman 
has sexual relations with a male being from whom, or by virtue of whom, 
the ritual or power comes, and such grant is often manifestly to a])])ease a 
wronged husband or parents. However, this may be a more or less con- 
ventional mode of constructing a m\th, based upon the same human interests 
that make the love-passion the core of all novels. 

Now we may consider m}lhs of cultural and other origins. In the first 
place, these narratives are such as account for certain conditions in humanity 
and nature, and certain folk-practices. In the second place, the origins 
and transformations are primary rather than secondary parts of the narra- 
tives, in which respect they stand in opposition to a large part of the preceding 
group. Such a distinction is by no means absolute, and some of the narra- 
tives in this group will doubtless impress the reader as not quite within the 
bounds of the above characterization; yet he should not forget that we have 
also been influenced in the selection by the attitude of the narrators and 
others toward the tales themselves.^ One of the chief points of note in this 
group is the lack of correspondence to the m}1;hology of the Plains. In 
most cases the narratives seem to be original with the Blackfoot, yet this is 
relative, since here and there are suggestions of parts of other myths. Again, 
these narratives are relatively few in number, and in most cases lack the 
classical ring of other groups. 

The miscellaneous group contains various elements. Some are recog- 
nizable as Plains and Eastern tales; while others, again, seem to be original. 
The definite intrusion of what are regarded as Kutenai myths is a matter 
of interest, because the narrator, a Piegan, is credited with the chief responsi- 
bility of their introduction in association with the Hlack-Tail deer-daiice. 
Narratives Nos. 19, 20, deserve special mention, because they are told as 
ethical puzzles usually exciting discussion, different persons having more or 
less fixed opinions about the matter. So far as known to the writer, such 
narratives have not been reported by other observers. A large part of this 

1 In the case of the Medicine-Hat tale, the origin of tlie name is to a degree secondary; htit 
tlie real significance of the narrative is that it accounts lor the origin of a special method for 
trapping eagles. 



16 Anthropological Papers America?} Mvseuir} of A'atural History. [Vol. II, 

miscellaneous group is made up of narratives for children, though all tales of 
the Old Man are told even to the youngest children, and often recited as 
lullabies for infants. 

No effort has been made to determine the jilace of the Blackfoot in the 
mythology of the Plains; but in the various footnotes, references to such 
parallels among neighboring tribes as came to our notice have been made. 
Many of the myths generally distributed throughout the central parts of 
North America appear in our collection and among the works of other 
writers. Some rather striking exceptions are the well-known Imitations of 
the Host, Vaginal Teeth, and The Dancing Ducks. All of these appear in 
the Arapaho collections, and, with the exception of the second, in the Gros 
Ventre. By inquiry we found individuals who claimed to have heard the 
following narratives, but were unable to rentier them : The Dancing Ducks, 
Vaginal Teeth, The Man who Received a Flageolet from an Elk, The ]Man 
who Played Dead and Deceived a Bear,^ The Becovery of Water by Stealing 
the Vessels in which it was Concealed, and the Wounded ]Man Carried 
Home by a Bear. Among those for ^^■hich no recognition was observed 
may be mentioned the Imitation of the Host, Raven Creating the World 
and People, The Tar-Baby and the Recovery of the Daylight by Theft. 
However, without going into details, certain tentative similarities may be 
noted between the mythology of the Blackfoot and that of neighboring 
tribes, though the material at hand is very unsatisfactory. There is the 
appearance of close similarity to the mythology of the western Cree and an 
almost equal degree of similarity to that of the Crow. To come to a definite 
conclusion on this point, we need larger collections from these tribes, and 
also data on the niAthology of the Assiniboine, who were allied with the 
western Cree living along the edge of the forest. Again, the similarities in 
Gros Ventre m}1;hology are numerous, though, as may be expected, the 
myths of this tribe bear much greater resemblance to those of the Arapaho. 
On the other hand, there are a number of similarities between the Blackfoot 
and the Arapaho not ])aralleled in the Gros Ventre. However, our collec- 
tion from the latter is proba])ly not so complete as from the former. While 
these similarities taken together include many of the more witlely distributed 
North American myths, they inchide others apjiareiitly restricted to these 
three tribes. In this connection we need more data from the Cheyenne, 
Kiowa, and Shoshone, especially the former, who are members of the Plaii'.s 
Algonkin grouj). There are also a munber of Blackfoot similarities to 
Arikara incidents, that seem less definite among the collections from other 
Caddoan tribes. Perhaps these Arikara incidents are characteristic of 
U])per Missouri mythology. Here \v(- need data from the Ilidatsa. 



1 Dorsey and Kroeber, Traditions of the Arapalio, op. cit., p. 451. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mythology. 17 

It may not be out of place to give our impression of the i)osition these 
tales occupy in Blackfoot culture. ^Miile their m^lhology certainly stands 
for a part of what we know as the hterature of a people, it does not bv 
any means comprise the larger part; for historical, military, adventurous, 
ceremonial, and other forms of narratives there are in profusion. It will 
be noticed that the narratives in our collection correspond in general stvle 
to what we recognize as fiction. The attitude of the Blackfoot people 
toward these narratives is difficult to reduce to accurate statement, but 
one gets the impression that they are often valued more for their testhetic 
factors than otherwise. Yet the active elements of this mythology seem to 
function in m^-thical characters so firmly fixed in folk-thought, that each 
may be regarded as a reality. One also gets the impression, after some 
familiarity with the serious life of these people, that m^ihical characters 
are generally accorded the same reality as pertains to a deceased friend. 
The most venerated of these are Sun-Man, ISIoon-Woman, ]SIorning-Star, 
the Thunder, Scar-Face, the Seven-Stars, the Pleiades (Bunched stars), 
Otter-Woman, Elk-Woman, the Old Man, Blood-Clot, Scabby-Round- 
Robe, the Woman-who-^NIarried-the-Star, and the Woman-who-^NIarried 
the-Buffalo. All are regarded as having made at least some important 
contribution to the welfare of the people. Naturally, not all are of equal 
rank; the Sun, Moon, Thunder, and Morning-Star being of very great 
power and supernatural significance. An exliaustive collection of Blackfoot 
narratives would doubtless contain numerous and various versions of the 
doings of these and other minor characters. Taken collectively, these char- 
acters give the sanctions for many practices and beliefs. That they are 
strictly moral sanctions is doubtful, since they seem to have prescribed the 
formal parts of ceremonies and worship rather than ethical procedure. 
An}-T\-ay, to the present Blackfoot mind, the moral lives of these characters 
are not always exemplary. The Old ]Man is held in contempt, and one may 
hear such expessions as "I do not hold Scar-Face in esteem, because, while 
he did a great thing, he did it for spite." However, a full discussion of 
these characters must be deferred until we have presented the details of 
ceremonial practices and beliefs. 

So far as we know there are no restrictions against the telling of myths at 
certain times of the year. There is no detailed m^-th which can be narrated 
only to select audiences, as among the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Dakota, — 
myths that have so far not been recorded. Neither are their myths peculiar 
to women or men, as the case may be, any one being at liberty to render 
any myth whatsoever. However, persons not versed in a ritual ai"e often 
reluctant to narrate the m}th accoiuiting for its origin, because in a general 
way it is improper for one to speak in detail of medicines concerning which 



18 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

they have little knowledge. x\s women take important parts in most rit- 
ualistic ceremonies, such restrictions are not correlated with sex differences. 
Then, again, all elderly persons are assumed to have had considerable 
experience in ritualistic ceremonies; hence young people usually hesitate 
to narrate myths in deference to the rights of their elders. 

Clark Wissler. 
New York City, 
July 11, 1908. 



1908.] Wisslcr and Dh rail, Bhickfoot Mi/tholtyi/. 19 

T. TALES OF THE OLD .ALVX. 

L The ]\L\kixg ok the Earth. 

During the flood, Old Man was sitting on the highest mountain with 
all the beasts. The flood was caused by the above people, because the baby 
(a fungus) ^ of the woman who married a star was heedlessly torn in pieces 
by an Indian child.' Old Man sent the Otter down to get some earth. 
For a long time he waited, then the Otter came up dead. Old Man examined 
its feet, but found nothing on them. Next he sent Beaver down, but after 
a long time he also came up drowned. Again nothing was found on his 
feet. He sent Muskrat to dive next. INIuskrat also was drowned. At 
length he sent the Duck (?). It was drowned, but in its paw held some 
earth. Old Man saw it, put it in his hand, feigned putting it on the water 
three times, and at last dropped it. Then the above-people sent rain, and 
evervthina; grew on the earth. ^ 



'?:> »" 



2. Languages confused on a Mountain. 

After the flood, Old Man mixed water with dift'erent colors. He whistled, 
and all the people came together. He gave one man a cup of one kind of 
water, saying, "You \\\\\ be chief of these people here." To another man 
he gave differently colored water, and ^o on. The Blackfoot, Piegan, and 
Blood all received black water. Then he said to the people, "Talk," and 
they all talked differently; but those who drank l)lack water spoke the 
same. This happened on the highest mountain in the Montana Reservation 
[Chief Mountain ?1.^ 

3. Order of Life and Death. 

There was once a time when there were but two j)ersons in ihc world. 
Old Man and Old Woman. One time, when they were travelling about, 



1 In rendering these narratives explanatory matter supplied by the narrator is indicated 
by parenthesis, that supplied by the translator or editor is indicated by brackets. 

- See Narrative of the Fixed Star, p. 58. 

3 A North Blackfoot version, collected by Dr. R. H. Lowie. For anotlier version, see 
Maclean, Canadian Savage Folk, p. 51; Also Hale. Report of the British A.ssociation, 1S86, p. 
704. For a Sarcee version, see Wilson, Rei^ort of the British Association, 1889, p. 224. For 
note on the distrilmiion of this myth, .see G. A. Dorsey and A. L, Kroeber, Traditions of tiie 
Arapaho (Field Coliunhian Museuni Publication SI, i). 20). 

•* A North Blackfoot version, collected by Dr. R. H. Lowie. In this connection note the 
following: "Au comniencement, on habitait sur une inontagne, et tons les homines parlaient 
la meme langue." — Petitot, op. cit., p. .383. See also pp, 130 an<l 332. For a seconil mention 
of this incident in our collection, see p, 23. 



20 Anthropological Papers American Museum of A'atural History. [Vol. II, 

Old Man met Old Woman, who said, "Xow, let us come to an agreement of 
some kind; let us decide how the people shall live." "Well," said Old 
]\Ian, " I am to have the first say in evervthing." To this Old Woman 
agreed, provided she had the second say.^ 

Then Old INIan began, "The women are to tan the hides. When they 
do this, they are to rub brains on them to make them soft; they are to scrape 
them well with scraping-tools, etc. But all this they are to do very quickly, 
for it will not be very hard work." "No, I will not agree to this," said Old 
Woman. "They must tan the hide in the way you say; but it must be made 
very hard work, and take a long time, so that the good workers may be 
found out." 

"Well," said Old Man, "let the people have eyes and mouths in their 
faces; but they shall be straight up and down." "No," said Old AVoman, 
"we will not have them that way. We will have the eyes and mouth in the 
faces, as you say; but they shall all be set crosswise." - 

"Well," said Old Man, "the people shall have ten fingers on each hand." 
"Oh, no!" said Old Woman, "that will be too many. They will be in the 
way. There shall be four fingers and one thumb on each hand." 

"Well," said Old Man, "we shall beget children. The genitals shall be at 
our navels." "No," said Old Woman, "that will make child-bearing too 
easy; the people Avill not care for their children. The genitals shall be at the 
pubes." 

So they went on until they had provided for everything in the lives of 
the people that were to be. Then Old Woman asked what they should do 
about life and death; should the people always live, or should they die? 
They had some difficulty in agreeing on this; but finally Old INIan said, 
"I will tell you what I will do. I will throw a buft'alo-chip into the water, 
and, if it floats, the people die for four days and live again; but, if it sinks, 
they will die forever." So he threw it in, and it floated. "No," said Old 
Woman, "we will not decide in that way. 1 will throw in this rock. If it 
floats, the people will die for four days: if it sinks, the people will die forever." 
Then (^Id Woman threw the rock out into the water, antl it sank to the 
bottom.-' "'J'liere," said she, "it is ])etter for tiie jx'ople to die forever; 
for, if they did not die forever, they ANould never feel sorry for each other, 
and there would be no sympathy in the world." "Well," said Old 'Shm, 
"let it be that way." ^ 

1 See Hale, Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1886, p. 705. 

2 "Old Man made some women .... As the moutlis of the women were opened vertically, so 
he closed them uji uRain and cul them anew." — Maclean, Canadian Savage Folk, 1S96. p. 52. 

^ This part of the myth is analoijoiis to a Cheyenne version, for wliioh see Kroel)er, Journal 
of American Folk-Lore, Vol. XllI, p. 161. For a* similar incident, in which ilie stone is thrown 
by Niira"t^a", see Dorsey and Kroel)er. op. cit., pp. 17. 81. 

•" For a comparative statement of mythical accounts of the origin of death, see Dorsey and 
Kroeber, op. cit., p. 20. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mytholoyij. 21 

After a time Old Woman had a daughter, who died. She was verv sorry 
now that it had been fixed so that people died forever. So she said to Old 
Man, "Let us have our say over again." "Xo," said he, "we fixed it once." 



4. Why People Die Forever. 

One time Old Man saitl to Old Woman, "Peojjle will never die." 
"Oh!" said Old Woman, "that will never do; because, if people live alwavs, 
there will be too many people in the world." ^ "Well," said Old Man, 
"we do not want to die forever. We shall die for four days and then come 
to life again." " Oh, no!" said Old W^oman, "it will be better to die for- 
ever, so that we shall be sorry for each other." "Well," said Old Man, 
"we will decide this way. We will throw a buft"alo-chip into the water: 
if it sinks, we will die forever; if it floats, we shall live again." "Well," 
said Old Woman, "throw it in." Xow, Old Woman had great power, and 
she caused the chip to turn into a stone, so it sank. 

So when we die, we die forever.- 

5. The First Marriage. 

2now in those days, the men and the women did not li\e together.^ The 
men lived in one camp and the women in the other. The men lived in 
lodges made of skin with the hair on; the women, in good lodges. [The 
idea is, that the women dress the skins, hence the men could not live in 
dressed-skin lodges.] One day Old Man came to the camp of the men, 
and, when he was there, a Avoman came over from the camp of the women. 
She said she had been sent by the chief of the women to in\ite all the nun, 
because the women were going to pick out husbands. 

2now the men began to get ready, and Old 'Slan dressed himself u]i in 
his finest clothes: he was always fine looking. Then they started out. 
and, when they came to the women's camp, tlu\v all stood uj) in a row. 
X'ow the chief of the women came out to make the first choice. She had on 
very dirty clothes, and none of the men knew who she was. She went along 
the line, looked them over, and finally picked out Old Man, because of his 
fine appearance. Xow Old Man saw many nicely dressed women waiting 
their turn, and, when the chief of the women took him by tlu- luuul. he 

1 See Dorsey and Kroeber, op. cit. p. 17. 

- This version was received from a North Piegan. For a third version, see Grinnell, Black- 
foot Lodge Tales, pp. 138-139. 

3 Rev. E. F. Wilson writes. "The Sarcee have a tradition similar to that of the Blackfoot 
about men and women being first made separately, and then being brouglit together through 
the action of the mythical being 'Napiw.'" — Report of the British Association, 1SS9, p. 244. 



22 Anthropological Papers America?} Museum of A'atiiral Histonj. [Vol. II, 

pulled back and broke away. He did this because he thought her a very 
coininon woman. AYhen he pulled away, the chief of the women went back 
to her lodge and instructed the other women not to choose Okl INIan. While 
the other women were picking out their husbands, the chief of the women 
put on her best costmne. When she came out, she looked very fine, and, 
as soon as Old i\Ian saw her, he thought, "Oh! there is the chief of the 
M'omen. I wish to be her husband." He did not know that it was the same 
woman. ^ 

Xow the chief of the women came down once more to })ick out a luis- 
band, and, as she went aromid. Old INIan kept stepping in front of her, 
so that she might see him; but she paid no attention to him, finally }>icking 
out another for her husband. 

After a while all the men had been picked out, except Old ^lan. Xow 
he was very angry; but tlie chief of the women said to him, "After this you 
are to be a tree, and stand just where you are now." Then he became a 
tree, and he is mad yet, because he is always caving down the bank.- 

6. Old Max Leads a Migration. 

The first Indians were on the other side of the ocean, and Old IMan de- 
cided to lead them to a better place. So he l^rought them over the ice to 
the far north. When they were crossing the ice, the Sarcee ^ were in the 
middle and there was a boy riding on a dog travois. As they were going 
along, this boy saw a horn of some animal sticking up through the ice. Now 
the boy wanted this horn, and began to cry. So his mother took an ax and 
cut it off. As she did so, the ice gave way and only those on this side of the 
place where the horn was will ever get liere.^ 

1 AraiJiiho Tale No. .51 (Dorsey and Kroeber. op. cil.) lias a tew of the minor characteris- 
tic-s of this tale, but the jilot is dittVrent. 

- For anotlier version of this incident, see No. 23. The following was collected ainoug.the 
Northern Blackfoot by Dr. R. H.I.owie: — 

Women were liviiiK on one side of Little Bow River, the men on the other side (northwest 
of Calgary). They killed coyotes, using skins for blankets. Old Man came to tlie women's 
JjufTalo-di'ive. The women asked, "Whence come you?" "From men's cam])." The women 
toid Old Man to go there and tell the men to come. " We'll choose husl)ands," they said. The 
Moincu asked for the chief's color. Old Man said, "He wears a wolf blanket with the tail on." 
The men arrived at the women's buffalo-drive. The chieftainess wearing l)ad clothes went out 
to the men. She selected Old Man: but he did not want her on account of her ugly ai)pearance. 
Then the chieftainess said to the wonu'n, " Vou see that tall man: don't choose him." She 
then put on good clothes, and Old I\lan tried to get her; but she chose another. He was left 
unchosen. He stamped his foot, and made the earth fill the enclosure of the buffalo-drive. 

•^ The following version was found among the Sarcee, — Another Indian told us iiow the 
Sarcee were at one time one peoi)le with the Chipewyans, and gave us the myth which accounts 
for their sei)aration. "Formerly," he said, "we lived in the north country. We were many 
thousands in, number. We were travelling south. It was winter, and we had to cross a l)ig 
lake on the ii'C. There was an elk's horn sticking out of the ice. A squaw went and struck the 
horn with an axe. The elk raised himself from the ice and shook liis head. The jieople were 
all frightened and ran away. Those that ran toward the north became the Chipewyans, and 
we who ran toward the south are the Sot«5nna or Sarcee. — Rev. E. F. Wilson, Report of the 
British A.ssociation for the .Advancement of Science, 18S9, p. 243. 

■> This is said to ha\e hapi)ened on a lake in .\lberta, called Buffalo Lake by the Indians, 
because its shape is like a buffalo lying down. See Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales 
( Antlu'opological Bajiers of the Anieric-in Museum of Natural History, Vol. I, Part III, p. 112). 
Also known to the Arapaho and Cheyenne. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mytholocjn . 23 

Now Old ]\Ian led these people down to where the Blood Reserve now 
is, and told them that this would be a fine country for them, and that they 
would be very rich. He said, "I will get all the people here." All the 
people living there ate and lived like wild animals; but Old Man went among 
them and taught them all the arts of civilization.^ (When crossing the ice, 
only about thirty lodges succeeded in getting across, and among these were 
the representatives of all the tribes now in this country. At that time the 
Blackfoot were just one tribe.) When he was through teaching them, he 
did not die, but went among the Sioux, where he remained for a time, but 
finally disappeared.- He took his wife with him. He had no children. 

7. Old Man and the Great Spirit. 

There was once a Great Spirit who was good. He made a man and a 
woman. Then Old ^Nlan came along. No one made Old i\Ian; he always 
existed. The Great Spirit said to him, "Old Man, have you any power?" 
"Yes," said Old Man, "I am very strong." "Well," said the Great Spirit, 
"suppose you make some mountains." So Old Man set to work and made 
the Sweet-Grass Hills.^ To tlo this he took a piece of Chief Mountain. 
He brought Chief INIountain up to its present location, shaped it up, and 
named it. The other mountains were called blood colts. '"Well," said the 
Great Spirit, "you are strong." 

"Now," said Old Man, "there are four of us, — the man and woman, 
you and I." The Great Spirit said, "All right." 

The Great Spirit said, "I will make a big cross for you to carry." Old 
Man said "No, you make another man so that he can carry it." llie Great 
Spirit made another man. Old Man carried the cross a while, but soon got 
tired and wanted to go. The Great Spirit told him that he could go. but he 
should go out among the people and the animals, and teach them how to 
live, etc. 

Now the other man got tired of carrying the cross. He was a white 
man. The Great Spirit sent him off as a traveller. So he wandered on 
alone. The man and woman ^\ho had been created wantlered oft' down 
towards Mexico, where they tried to build a mountain in order to get to the 



1 See Giinnell, op. cit., p. 139. The following fragment also, from the Northern Blackfoot. 
was collected by Dr. R. H. Lowie, — On the other side of the HIrIi River, the Blackfoot were 
living on grass Old Man saw them, and saw !)uffalo driviiifr tlicni. "What are you doing?" 
he asked " The buffalo kill and eat us," they said. " You are foolish ; you ought to eat InitTalo." 
he replied. So he made arrows for them with which to shoot the buflalo. The Indians now 
made buffalo-drives. . ^ , . „, ,,,,-, ,t i 

The idea that buffalo formerly ate men is found in Cheyenne Myths, Kroeber (Journal 
of American Folk-Lore, Vol. XIII, p. 161). 

2 See Macean, Canadian Savage Folk, op. cU., p. 444. ,„ . ^, ,. . 

3 See Griiinell, op. cit., p. 137; al.so the Old Man and the Coyote, Teit, Iraditions of the 
Thompson River Indians of iririlish Colunil)ia, 1S9S, pi). 48, 109. 



24 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

skv to be with their children; but the people got mixed up until they came 
to have many different languages.^ 

8. Old Max gambles. 

Far up in the north there is a place known as Old ISIan's Gambling- 
Place.^ There is where Old Man played the game of the arrows and the 
rolling wheel. Once when he came to this place, he found some people 
playing at the game. He joined them, and lost his robe and moccasins. 
As soon as he took them off, the robe became back-fat, and the moccasins 
buffalo-tongues. As the winner had no use for such things, he gave them 
back at once. Then Old Man put the tongues on his feet, and they became 
moccasins, and, putting the back-fat on his shoulders, it became a robe. 
So he gambled again and again, always with the same result. 

9. Old Max axd the Rollixg Stoxe. 

One time Old ]Man went out with the Fox. This Fox was his little 
brother, or chum. It was a very hot day, and, when they came to a large 
rock. Old ]Man took off his robe and threw it over the rock, saying, "Here, 
brother: I make you a present of this robe." Then Old Man went on, but 
presently saw a heavy cloud coming up: so he sent his little brother back to 
get the robe. So he went back to the rock, and said, "Rock, Old ]\Ian wants 
his robe." "No," said the Rock, "he gave it to me as a present. I shall 
keep it. You tell him that he cannot have it." So the Fox went back and 
told Old i\Ian what the Rock had said. Then Old Man said, "My little 
brother, you go back and tell him again. Tell him I must have that robe." 
So the Fox went back to the Rock, and said, "Rock, Old Man sent me for 
his robe." The Rock replied, "No, no! Rocks never give back presents. 
If you give amthing to a Rock, you cannot take it back." So the Fox 
returned to Old Man and told him Avhat the Rock had said. Now Old 
Man was very angry. He said, "Now there is that Rock. It has been 
there for years and years with nothing over it; but it refuses to let me have 
my robe." So he rushed up to the Rock and snatched oft' the robe, saying, 
"I need this for myself." rt» 

Then Old Man started on, but presently, hearing a great noise behind 
him, said to the Fox, "INIy little brother, you go back and see what is making 



2 Old Man's home "was in the Rocky Mountains near the source of Old Man's River, in the 
provisional district of Alberta." — Maclean, Canadian Savage Folk, op. cit., p. 435. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mi/tliology. 25 

that noise." Then the Fox returned, saying, "Let us hurry, for that Rock 
is after us." ^Mien Old Man looked back, he saw the Roek coming. It 
Avas rollino; along. So thev both ran; but all the time the Rock was ffettino- 
closer. As he went along, Old Man saw some bears, and called upon them 
for help. The Bears went to fight the Rock; but they could do nothing, 
for it rolled over them, crushing them. Again as Old ^Nlan was running 
along, he saw some Buflfalo-bulls and called upon them for help. "Here," 
he said, "this Rock is chasing me. I want you to stop it." So the Bulls 
rushed upon the Rock; but the Rock crushed them. Then as he went on 
he saw some Night-hawks, and called upon them for help. "Here," he 
said, "is a Rock chasing me, I want you to stop it." Then the Night-hawks- 
flew down and discharged flatus at the Rock, and each time they did so, 
pieces flew oft'. Finally it was broken to pieces.^ 

Then Old INIan went on, and finally came to a nest of Tsight-hawks. 
There were young ones in it. Going up to the nest, he said, "^Yhere are 
your parents?" "They have gone for some meat," replied the young ones. 
"Well," said Old Man, "I guess your parents are the ones that spoiled my 
fun. I was having a lot of fun with a Rock that was running after lue, 
and they spoiled it: - so I am going to tear your mouths out." So he took 
hold of their bills, and split their mouths back to their necks. 

Now, after Old ]\Ian had gone on, the ^Night-hawks came back to feed 
their young ones. They said to them, "You have been eating. Where did 
you get the meat that made your mouths bloody?" Then the voung- 
Night-hawks told them how Old INIan had been there, and how he had 
treated them. Then the 2n ight-hawks went in pursuit of Old Man. When 
they overtook him, they flew around overhead, defecating on his robe. 
Each time they did so, he cut oft' the soiled portion and threw it away. As 
the robe became smaller, the filth fell upon his body. At last he sought 
relief by plunging into the river. In this way he lost his robe.^ 

10. Old M.vn eoasts Squirrels in Hot Ashes. 

One time as Old ]\Ian was going along, he came to a place where there 
were many Scpiirrels. These Squirrels were playing in hot ashes. Some 
of them would lie down in the ashes, while the others would cover them 



1 A similai- incident occurs in the Gros Ventre myth of the Bird with the Large Arrow, 
Kroeber, op. cit., p. 70. Also see a Cree tale. Russell, Explorations in the Far Xorth. p. 210. 

- A similar sentiment is expres.sed in a Gros Ventre myth, Kroeber, op. cit., p. 70. 

3 For other versions see Grimiell, Blackfoot Lod^e Tales, p. 165, and .Maclean, Journal of 
American Folk Lore, Vol. Ill, p. 296. A similar incident is known to the Arapaho, Dorsev and 
Kroeber, op. cit. pp. 66-70. Tlie incidents in the .\rapalio tale agree quite closely witli the 
preceding version and also with an Arikara version, Dorsey, Traditions of the Arikara, p. 147_ 
Also see Ute Tales, Kroeber, Journal of .\merican Folk-Lore, December, 1901, p. 261. 



26 Anthropological Papers American ]\fuseu77i of Natural History. [Vol. II 

over. When it became so hot that they could stand it no longer, they would 
call out to the others, Avho would take them out at once. Old ]Man watched 
the game a while, and then insisted that he be allowed to try. He asked 
them if he could be baked first. "No," said the Squirrels, "we are afraid 
you do not know how to play, and that you will be burned. Let us be baked 
first to show you how." Old ^Nlan asked them again, but they still refused. 
Finally Old Man agreed, provided they would let him cover up all the 
Squirrels at once. At last this was agreed to. Then Old ]Man began to 
cover up the Squirrels in the hot ashes. One of the Squirrels, who was 
about to become a mother, begged so pitifully not to be put into the ashes 
that Old Man said, "Well, you may go." When they were all covered up 
with the ashes, some of them became too warm, ami called out to Old ISIan 
to take them out; but, instead of doing this, he heaped on more ashes as fast 
as he could, and finally the Squirrels were roasted to death. ^ 

Then Old Man took some red willows and made a scaffold ujion which 
to put his squirrel-meat. On this he laid the roasted squirrels. This 
made the willows greasy, and this is why the red willow is greasy even to 
this day.^ Now Old ]Man had so much meat that he could not eat all of it. 
So he ate what he could, and, being tired, he lay down by a tree to rest. He 
had a little brown eye [anus] that always watched for him when he slept. 
So when he lay down to sleep he told Little Brown-Eye to keep watch, and 
to wake him if anything came around. Just as Old ]Man was about asleep, 
Little Brown-Eye gave the warning note (flatus). Old INIan got up and 
looked around, but saw only a crow on a tree near by. This disgusted him 
so that he went to sleep at once. Not long after this a lynx came around. 
Old Man was now sound asleep. Little Brown-Eye roared away, but he 
could not wake him up. So the lynx ate up all the scjuirrels on the scaffold. 
After a while, Old ]Man woke up and went to his scaffold to eat. When 
he found that the meat was all gone, he was very angry, and said, "Little 
Brown-Eye, I told you to wake me r.ji if anything came around. Here you 
let a lynx eat all of my meat." With that he caught up a stick from the 
fire and rubbed it into Little Brown-Eye.^ The wood was a kind of willow, 
and ever since that time this willow has been called "stinking wood." 

Then Old iNIan startcnl out to trail the lynx. He could follow him easily 
because his tracks were greasy. At last he found him asleep on a large flat 
rock. Old Man rushed up, caught him, and said, "You are the thief who 
stole my meat. Now 1 am going to punish you." So he broke oft* a part 

1 See a Crow tale, Simiiis. Field Columbian Museum Publication So, p. 2S5. 

2 A similar version by Grinnell, op. cit., p. 155. 

3 See Arapalio tale, Dorsey ami Kroeber, op. cit., p. 60, footnote: also a parallel in the Gros 
Ventre, Kroel)er, op. cit., p. 71. A similar incident occurs in a Dakota myth, Kiggs, Contribu- 
tions to North American Ethnology, Vol. IX, p. 114; Jones, Fox Texts, p. 289; and Russell 
Cree Myths, op. cit., !>. 213. " 



190S.] Wiss:ler am] DuraU, Blaclfnot M i/tliolayn. 27 

of his tail and threw it away. Then he stood on the liind !(•«•>. and, pulhng 
bv the fore legs, stretched the lynx out to a great length. Next he took the 
lynx by the ears, and buni])ed his nose against a rock nntil it l)eeanie flat. 
Then he jerked a handful of hair from the i)ubes, wiiich he stuck on his 
nose for whiskers. He took up the lynx, and, hohhng him over a fire, 
scorched him on the sides. This is how the lynx came to have his present 
form.^ 

Now r.ittle Brown-Eye hat! been badly burned by the stick, and was 
very sore. When Old INIan lay tlown to rest, he ha])])ened to turn Little 
Brown-Eye toward the wind, and as the wind l)lew it cooled it, making him 
comfortable. Yet Little Brown-Eye was still painful, and Okl INIan called 
on the wind to blow harder. It did so; but as there was yet pain he called 
out again and again. Then a terrible storm came up. It blew harder and 
harder, and finally began to carry Old ]Man away head over heels, down 
the hills and over the moimtains. As he was going tinnbling along, he 
caught hold of everything he passed; but all the bushes and trees gave way 
before the terrible wind. At last Old INIan caught hold of the birch.- Now 
the birch is very tough, and will not break easily. Old Man held on to it 
while the wind tossed him up and down, up and down. At last the wind 
died down. Old Man got down from the birch-tree and became very angry. 
He said, "Here, you old birch-tree! You spoiled all my fim. I was hav- 
ing a fine time playing with the wind. We were running over tiie hills and 
the mountains and through the woods, imtil you caught hold of me. Now 
I am going to punish you." So Old ^lan took out his knife, and gashed 
savagely at the tree. Now the marks you see on the birch-trei» at the jirescnt 
time are the scars made by Old Man's knife.'' 

IL Old ^NIax makes a Drive, axd loses [Meat ix a Race. 

Now Old Man went on and came to a ])lace where deer and elk were 
playing a game called "Follow your leader." Old iMan watched the game 
a while. Then he asked permission to jilay. He took the lead, sang a 
song, and ran about this way and that, and finally led them up to the edge 
of a cliff. Old INIan jumjied down and was knocked senseless. After a 
while he got up and called to the rest to follow. " Xo, W(> might hurt our- 
selves." "Oh!" said Old Man, "it is nice and soft here, and 1 had to sleep 



1 This incident and some otlier parts of the tale bear some resemhlaiue to Aiapalio Tales 
Nos. 24, 26, and 27. Dorsey and Kroeber, op. cit. Also the incident of (.liungins: the form of 
an animal is foimd in Ute Tales, Kroeber, oi). cit., p. 26S. 

2 See a Crow Tale, Simnis, op. cit., p. 287. 

3 This version is in general agreement witli one l).v Grinnell. op. cit, p. 171. The liitTerences 
in the details are doubtless due to tiie popular nature of the luibhcation in w hich tlicy are found. 



28 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II,. 

a while." Then the elk all jumped down and were killed. Then Old Man 
said to the deer, "Now, you jump." "Xo," said the deer, "we shall not 
jump down, because the elk are all killed." "Xo," said Old Man, "they 
are only laughing." So the deer jumped down and were all killed. Xow, 
when the elk were about to jump over, there was a female elk about to be- 
come a mother, and she begged Old Man not to make her jump, so he let 
her go. A few of the deer were also let go for the same reason. If he had 
not done this, all the elk and deer would have been killed.^ 

Old ]Man was now busy butchering the animals that had been killed by 
falling over the cliff. When he was through butchering, he went out and 
found a place to camp. Then he carried his meat there and hung it up tO' 
dry. When he was all alone, a Coyote came to him. This Coyote had a 
shell on his neck, and one leg was tied up as if badly hurt. The Coyote 
said to Old Man, "Give me something to eat." Old Man said to the Coy- 
ote, "You get out of here, or I will take up my genitals and beat you over 
the head." - 

But Coyote did not go away. Okl ]Man said to him, "Give me that 
shell on your neck to skim the soup, and I will give you something to eat." 
"X^o," said Coyote, "that shell is my medicine." Then Old Man noticed 
that the Coyote had his leg tied up, and said, "Well, brother, I will run you a 
race for a meal." " W>11," said Coyote, "I am hurt. I cannot run." " That 
makes no difference," said Old Man, "run an\'^vay." "Well," said Coyote, 
"I will run for a short distance." "Xo," said Old Man, "you have to run 
a long distance." Finally Coyote agreed. They were to run to a distant 
point, then back again. Coyote started out very slow, and kept crying for 
Old Man to wait, to wait. At last Coyote and Old iNIan came to the turning- 
point. Then Coyote took the bandage off his leg, began to run fast, and 
soon left Old Man far behind. He began to call out to all the coyotes, the 
animals, and mice, and they all came rushing up to Old Man's camp and 
began to eat his meat. It was a long time before Old Man reached the 
camp; but he kept calling out, "Leave me some meat, leave me some meat."^ 

X'^ow, Old Man had hung all the tongues of the animals on poles, and 
when he got to the camp he saw them still hanging there; but, when he took 
them down, he found that they were nothing but shells, for mice had eaten 
out the inside.^ The place where this happened was on Tongue Flag Kiver 

1 For another version of the preceding, see Grinnell, op. eit., p. 158. A somewhat similar 
tale is given hv Dt)rsev and Kroeber, op. cit., p. 60. 

2 Old Man's gi-niials are also spoken of as a lariat. The rainbow is often designated as such, 
using either term a])i)arentlv at random. However, the usual idea is, that his genitals are used 
as a lariat to rope the clouds. 

3 For a similar incident, see Grinnell, op. cit., p. 157. .\lso Maclean, Journal of American 
Folk-Lore, Vol. Ill, p. 297. 

* See Grinnell, op. cit., p. 15S. 



1908.] Wissler and DuraU, Blackfoot MyOwlog)/. 29 

and Old ]Man had thive names; Old INIan. Paintcd-Dricd-IMeat, and 
Fooled-a-Little [meanini; the opposite].^ 

12. Old INIax sees Berries ix the Water. 

One day Old INIan, standhig on the bank of a stream, saw in the water 
some reflections of berries growing on the bank. He thonght them to l>e 
real berries: so he dived into the water, but could Hud no berries. As soon 
as he was back upon the bank again, he saw them: so he dived one time 
after another, and finally tied rocks to his legs, that he might stay down 
longer. Then he nearly drowned. At last he was very tired, and, finding 
a shady place under a bush, he lay down to rest. Xow, looking up, he 
saw the berries hanging over his head. Xow he was very angry. He picked 
up a club and beat the berry-bushes until there was but one berry left. This 
is the reason why the people to this day beat berries from tlu> bushes.- 

13. Old Max Loses his Eyes. 

Once there was a bird that had power to throw its eyes into a tree and 
■call them back again. Xow, Old ]Man came along one day and saw the 
bird throw its eyes up into a tree and call them back again. He said, "I 
should like to do this." So he began to cry, and asked the bird for some 
•of its power. At last the bird took pity on him. It told him that, Avhen he 
came to straight standing trees, all he had to do was to wish his eyes to go 
up, and then to wish them down again. However, he was warned not to 
wish it when among crooked trees. 

Then Old jNIan went on and came to some nice straight trees. Then he 
wished his eyes up in the tree, and at once they were up there. Then he 
wished they were back again, antl at once they were back again. Xow, 
Old Man was greatly pleased. Then he came to some thick brush, antl he 
said to himself, "Xow I wonder how it will work if 1 try it on this brush. 
I wonder why the bird told me not to send my eyes into crooked trees." 
So out of curiosity he wished his eyes in the brush, and as he diil so they 
went down into the brush and disa])i>eared. All his wishing would not 
bring them back again. Xow Old Man could not see, and he went along 
making signs for some one to come to his aid. Finally a coyote wlu) was 



1 For a similar tale, see Dorsev and Kroeber. op. cit., p. 62. 

- An incident closelv agreeinir with this is found in c-oinl)inalioii with an .\rapaho tale iii 
which Nih'a^ca" cooks babies, Dorsev and Kioehei', op. cit., p. 101. It is inliiestintr to tind the 
Aiapaho sequence of tliese incidents in a Cft,'iha niytli, J. O. Doisey, ContiiLmtions to North 
-American Ethnoloijy, \"ol, \l. p. 5(52. 



30 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. 11^ 

passing that way canio nj) antl looked at Old Man. The coyote saw that 
his eyes were gone. Now this coyote had a festeretl foot, and he held this 
up to Old Asian's nose. "My," said Old ]Man, "that smells like a buffalo- 
drive. I must be near a camp." Then the coyote stole away, leaving 
Old Man hurrying on.^ 

After a while, as Old Man was walking along, a girl saw him, and, as 
he was making queer signs, she went toward him. "What do you want?" 
she said. When Old ]Man heard the voice, he said, "I want you to come 
over here." Now Old ]Man tied up his eyes, and, when the girl came over, 
he said, " I wish you to lead me, for my eyes are sore." They went on until 
they came to some thick brush. Then Old j\Ian said, "I will make a camp 
here." So he set up some jioles as if to make a lodge. Then he went after 
more poles but, being unable to find the ones just set up, he started another 
shelter, and so on. Finally the girl said, "What are you doing?" Old 
Man said, "I am making several lodges, so you can have your choice." 
After a while he began to tie a rattle, made of hoofs, to the girl's dress- 
"What are you doing now?" she said. "Oh," said he, "I am ]nitting^ 
preventive medicine on you." Then they camped together. Old INIan 
had himg the hoof-rattles on the girl to act as a bell, so that he could hear 
her and follow her. One day the bandage came off his eyes, and the girl 
saw that he had no eyes. When she found this out, she tried to run away 
from him. (^Id Man followed her l)y the somid of the rattles; but, when 
she discovered this, she took them off" and threw them out from a steep 
bank over the river. Then Old Man followed the rattling that they made^ 
and fell head first into the water.- 

Now Old INIan met Coyote, and said to him, "Brother, you loan me one 
of your eyes, and I will go and get some meat for both of us." Coyote 
agreed to this, and gave Old Man one of his eyes. Then Old ]\Ian went 
into a cam]) where there were people; biit when they saw that one socket 
was empty, they were frightened and began to nui away. Old Man ran 
after them, calling, "I will not hurt yo!i; come back." But this only 
frightencMl them th(> more. At last, finding that he had scared the ])eople, 
he was very angry, and, going back to Coyote said, " Here, you are to blame 
for this. \'ou only gave me one eye, and scared all the jx'ople away." So> 
then he took the other eye from Covote.^ 



' For a similar version, see Grinnell, oj). tit., p. lo3. 

- See Maclean, .Journal of American Folk-I.ore, \'ol. VI. p. 168. 

'•> See Grinnell. oj). cit., p. 1.54. In the .\rapaho tale, Dorsey and Kroeher, op. eit., |ip. 
50-52, Nih'a'va'- loses his eves in the same f^eneral manner as indicated above, hut borrows 
eyes from small aninuUs. The adventures with the Kirl and tlie coyote do not occur. In the 
G'ros Ventre tale the incidents are somewhat similar to the Arapaho; Kroeher, op. cit., p. 70. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mi/lhologi/. 31 

14. Oij) ]Man and the Fire-Leggixgs. 

One day Old ^Nlan was going along. He came to a lodge standing all 
by itself, and when he looked in he saw a great deal of (h'ied meat. Looking 
around he saw hanging uj) a pair of leggings, which were made of rough 
buffalo-hide with many crow-feathers on the sides. Then he saw the owner ^ 
of the lodge, and said to him, "ISIy friend, give me those leggings." "No," 
said the stranger, " I will not give them to you." "Yes, I must have them," 
said Old Man. "No," replied the stranger, "these old leggings are of no use 
to you." "Well, then," said Okl Man, "let me sleep here." "Well," 
said the stranger, "you may do that." Now, that night, wIkmi the man 
was asleep. Old ISIan watched his chance, stole the leggings, tied them on 
his back, and ran off as fast as he could. He ran and ran until he was a 
great way off. "Now, then," thought he, "I am so far away that they can- 
not overtake me: so I will lie down and sleep." All this time the leggings 
were on his back. After a while he woke up, and when he looked around, 
he saw that he was back in the lodge again. 

It seems that the owner of the lodge, on awakening in the morning, 
saw Old Man sleeping with the leggings on his back: so he called to his 
wife and told her about it. The woman cooked some food, and, when all 
was ready, the man called out, "My friend, get u]> and eat!" Now, when 
Old Man awoke, he was surprised to find himself back where he started 
from. The man said, "Oh, my friend, what are you doing with my leggings 
on your back ? " Old ^lan got up, felt on his back, and, finding the leggings, 
said, "Well, I don't know how they came there, unless it is because your 
leggings like me." So he took the leggings oft' and gave them back to the 
man." 

Now Old Man Avanted those leggings very much, so he decided to try 
again. The next night, as soon as every one in the lodge was asleep, he 
took the leggings, tied them on his back, and travelled as fast as he could 
until morning; then he lay down to sleep. After a while, he heard some 
one calling, and, when he looked around he was again back in the lodge. 
"Here," said the man, "what are you doing with my leggings on your 
back?" Now Old ]Man felt around in apparent surprise, and said, "Well, 
[ do not know how they got there, unless your leggings like me so well that 
they get on my back during the night." "Weil," said the man, "if tin' 
leggings like you so well I will give them to you. But they are not ordinary 
leggings: they are medicine-leggings. You nn.st not wear them I'very day. 



1 In a version by Grinnell, the leggings were said to belong to the Sun. op. cit., p. 167. 

2 For a similar incident with Turtle and the magic robe, see Jones, Fox-te.\ts, p. 301 ; also 
a magic quiver, Russell, op. cit., p. 215. 



32 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. \\o\. II, 

but take them out with you when you go to hunt. Whenever you find game 
in the brush, put on these leggings and run round and round. As you do 
this, the brush will take fire; but I warn you that you must never wear them 
except when you have use for them." 

Now Old Man was greatly pleased, so he took his leggings and started 
out. After a time he came to the camp of the Piegan. All the people were 
watching him. So he began to dress himself up to look fine. He said to 
himself, "Now, here are those leggings. I think I will wear them." So 
he put them on. Now he started out, and at the first step, fire started in the 
grass. This frightened him very much, and he began to run, setting fire 
to everything. The faster he ran, the more fire there was. The j^eople 
began to call out that Old INIan was trying to burn them up. He ran as 
fast as he could, and at last succeeded in getting the leggings off. He threw 
them down on the ground, where they burned up. Then the fire went out. 

So Old Man lost his leggings. 

15. Old Man frightens a Bear. 

One day, as Old ]Man was going along, he saw a bear digging roots. 
Then he hid behind a hill where the bear could not see him, and Called out, 
"You dirty anus bear!" When the bear looked up, he saw nothing, and 
went on digging roots. Then Old INIan called out again, "Oh, you dirty 
anus bear!" This time the bear looked around quickly and saw Old ]Man 
get behind the hill. He took after him at once. Old INIan ran away as 
fast as he could with the bear at his heels. Finally he came to a large tree, 
and began to run round the tree with the bear after him. They kept on 
around the tree so long that a deep trail was worn in the ground. At last 
a buffalo-horn was uncovered in the trail, ^^^len Old INIan saw this, he 
picked it up, held it on his forehead, and, turning, rushed at the bear. This 
frightened the bear so much that he turned to run, and as he did so he 
defecated all over Old Man.^ 

16. Old INIan gets fast in an Elk-Skull, and Loses his Hair. 

One day ( )ld INIan was going along, when he came to an elk-skull on the 
ground. Inside of it were some white mice dancing. Old INIan began to 
cry, liecause he wanted to go in and dance with the mice. The Mice told 
him that he was too big to get in to dance, but that he could stick his head 



1 For another version see Grinnell, op. cit., p. 157. A similar incident occurs among the 
Arikara, Dorsey, op. cit., p. 139, and the Creo, Russell, op. cit., p. 210. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mythology. 33 

inside, and shake it which would be the same as dancing. "However," 
they said, "whatever you do, you must not go to sleejx" So Old Man stuck 
his head into the skull; but he forgot and went to sleep, and, while he slej^t, 
the Mice chewed all his h^ir oft". When Old INIan awoke, he could not get 
the skull off his head, so he went into the river and swam along with the 
antlers sticking out of the water. In this way he passed a camp of Indians. 
Then he made a noise like an elk. The people shot at him, went into the 
Avater and dragged him out; but when they hatl him on shore they saw that 
it was Old INIan. Then they took a stone and broke the skull, that he might 
get his head out asain.^ 



17. Old ]Max cooks Two Babies. 

Old Man came to a lodge in which there were some old women and two 
babies. The Avomen asked him to get some meat for them. So he went out 
into the brush. He pulled hair out of his robe and scattered it around. 
Then he rubbed his buttocks on the snow until they bled, making the snow 
bloody. Then he returned to the lodge and told the A\'omen that he had 
killed something, and asked them to go out and bring in the meat. So they 
started out, leaving their babies in the cradles. 

As soon as the women had gone. Old IMan took out his knife, cut off the 
heads of the babies, and put their bodies into the pot. Then he put their 
heads back into the cradles, and fixed them as before. 

When the women came back they said, "We cannot find the meat. The 
snow was all bloody, with hair scattered around. The coyotes must have 
eaten it." 

"Oh," said Old Man, "while you were gone, I got an antelope. It is 
cooking in the pot. Now be careful; don't wake the babies. I shall go 
after some wood." So Old Man went out, gathered a ])iie of wood, and 
blocked the door with it. Then he called out to the women, "Your babies 
are cooking in the pot." 

The women rushed to the cradles and found it was true. Now they were 
very angry, and tried to get out by the door; but the wood was in the way. 
Old Man ran off.^ However, the old women soon got out of the lodge, and 
pursued him. When they were about to overtake him, he ran into a hole in 
the ground. Then the women sat down and cried. 

While thev were crving, Old ]Man came out of another hole, disguised 



1 Similar tales are known to the Arapaho (Dorsey and Kroeber, op. cit., pp. 107-111). 
The Gros Ventre version is similar only in the main incident of the mice dancing in the skull 
<Kroeber, op. cit., p. 68). The Arikara have a simihir tale (Dorsey, op. cit., p. 137). 

2 This incident is found among the Gros Ventre (Kroeber, op. cit., p. 71i. 



34 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

himself, and came- around to the women. "Well, my grandmothers," said 
he, "why are you sitting here?" Then the women related to him all that 
had haj^pened. Then Old Man appeared to be very angry, and said, "I 
will go into that hole and kill him." Then he went into the hole, and while 
he was inside he made a great noise, as if a terrible fight was going on. At 
last everything was quiet, and after a time Old Man came out, saying, "Now 
he is dead." 

Then Old Man requested the women to go down into the hole to bring 
out the body; but, as soon as they were under, he stopped up the entrance, 
made a fire, and suffocated them with smoke. ^ 

18. Old Man's Escape. 

Old Man came to a camp of the Piegan. He went up to a lodge. It 
was a chief's lodge. Looking in he saw no one but a girl asleep. He stole 
up and put excrement on her dress. The smell of it wakened her, and she 
requested Old Man to remove it." 

"Well," said Old Man, "I must have pay. I do not work for nothing." 

The girl offered bows, arrows, and everything in the lodge; but Old 
Man refused each offer. Then she offered him her mother, sisters, etc.; 
but still he refused. Then she offered him her robe, her leggings, mocca- 
sins, etc.; but he refused each in turn. Finally she had nothing but herself 
to offer. Old Man said he would be satisfied with that. 

When the girl saw the size and length of Old INIan's lariat, she was 
troubled, and asked him to tie a stick across it, near the end. This he did. 
While they embraced, he removed the stick. The girl was torn in jiieces.^ 

Then Old Man went into the lodge of some old women. He tied up his 
head and pretended to be very sick. They cared for him. 

When the chief returned to his lodge, he found his daughter dead, and 
from her condition knew that Old Man must have been there. He searched, 
and found him with the old women. When Old jNIan was accused, he 
pleaded sickness as a i)ro()f of innocence. Now the chief was suspicious. 
He decided to try an ordeal. Every one was to be required to jump a ditch, 
and the one who failed was to be considered guilty of the crime. As they 
were going out to the place of trial. Old INIan met a bird, and inchiced it to 
exchange genitals with him.' Then they went on to the place. When it 

1 This tale agrees generally with two Arapaho versions (Dorsey and Kroeber op. cit., pp. 
101-10.5). A general statement o( its distrihution is given in a footnote, ibid. p. 103. The 
last ineident is found in a (Jros Ventre tale (Kroeber, op. eit., p. 43). 

- See Gros Ventre version (Kroeber, op. cit., p. 74). 

3 See note p. 28. 

■> .\eeording to a Northern Blackfoot version, he concealed his guilt by i>laeing them in the 
sky as a rainbow. See footnote p. 28. 



1908.] Wissler ami Din-dll, Blackfoot Miithologij. 35 

came the turn of the bird, he could not junij) because' of the unusual weight 
he carried. So he fell into the ditcii. ^Yhen tliev were about to execute 
the bird, he told what had been done. 'I'hen they were about to kill Old 
Man, but he offered to bring the girl to life again. 'l"he chief agreed to give 
him a trial.' 

When all was ready. Old Man placed two women at the door of the lodge, 
one on each side. They held stone mauls in their luuids. On the outside 
he placed two men with spears. The otlier people were sitting around inside 
of the lodge. Then Old ]Man put two pieces of fat on the fire, and when 
they were hot he took one in each hand and whirled about, causing the hot 
grease to fly into their eyes. 'I'hen he sprang out of the door. As he passed, 
the women with mauls struck at him, but killed each other. The same 
thing happened to the two men with spears. 

Old Man ran, but he was pursued by the men of the camj). After a time, 
the chase led by a place where some women were dressing hides. They 
caught him. Now Old ]\Ian was good at promising. He promised them 
elk-teeth, and they let him go. Soon the chase jiassed some young men 
playing the wheel-game. They caught him. He told them that he was not 
being pursued, but was running a race for some arrows. So they let him go. 
At last he got away." 

19. Old Man deceived by Two Women. 

Now all the women knew that Old Man was a very bad character, and 
they always tried to avoid him. One day two women out picking berries 
saw Old jNIan coming, but saw no way to avoid him. So they decided to 
play dead. As Old Man was going along, he saw the two women lying on 
the ground, stopped, and said, "Poor women! These are nice women. It 
is too bad they are dead." Then he touched one of them, "Oh, they have 
just died! They are still warm; something must hav(> killed them. I 
wonder what it was." So he tin-ned them over and over, but found no 
w^ounds. Then he began to remove their clothes, examining their bodies 
carefully. Finally he saw the vr.lva. "Oh!" said he, "no wonder they 
died. Here are the wounds. They have been stabbed by a dagger." Then 
he put his finger in one of the wounds, took it out and smelled it. "No," 
he said, "it was not by a dagger that they were killed. They were shot by 
a gun, because I smell the burnt powder. Well," said he, "I pity these 
poor women. They were too young to die. T must try to doctor tlu-m 



1 For a tale almost Identical with the preceding see Dorsey and Kroeber, op. cit, p. 73. 

2 For another version, see Grinnell, op. cit., p. 159. 



36 Anthropological Papers American Miiseiim of Natural Historij. [Vol. II, 

back to life again." So he took one of them on his back to carry her away 
to the doctoring place. One of her arm.s hung over his shoulder, and as 
she pretended to be dead, she allowed it to swing freely so that, as they went 
along, her hand beat his nose, making it bleed. At last, when Old ]Man 
came to a suitable place for doctoring, he jnit the woman down, and started 
back for the other one; but when he was halfway, both Avomen jumped up 
and ran away, 'ilien Old jNIan called out, "Oh, I thought you were dead! 
Don't run away. Come, jilay dead again. "^ 

20. Old INIan sees Girls ricKixG Strawberries. 

One day as Old ]\Ian was going along, he saw some girls picking berries 
at a distance. So he insinuated his long lariat along under the ground and 
up among the strawberries, the juice of which stained the protruding end.^ 
As the girls were picking, one of them came to the protruding part, and 
exclaimed, "Oh, here is a big one!" She tried to pick it, but it could not 
be moved. The she called her comi)anions to her aid, but without avail. 
Thev tried to eat it. At last one of them sat on it. Suddenly she was raised 
up and killed.^ 

21. Old Max penem trans flumex mittit. 

Old ]\Ian went on. After a time he saw a female beaver on the other 
side of the river asleep. He called the muskrat, and requested him to carry 
his lariat across and place it to the beaver. He directed the muskrat to 
pinch the end when properly placed. Now the muskrat began to swim 
across with his burden. The current was swift, and carried him down. 
At this Old Man scolded harshly, which made the muskrat very angry; 
so when he landed, he sought out a thicket of thorns in which he dejiosited 
his burden and did as directed. Old ^lan thrust with all his might. He 
ploughed out a deep trail.* 

22. Old Max .makes Biiialo laugh. 

Old Man looked from Red Deer lliver over to Little 15ow River. He 
saw some buffalo. He tietl up his hair in knots, and crawkMl along on hands 



1 Parts of this tale are known to the Crow (Simms, op. cit., p. 284). 

2 See part of a Crow tale (Slnims, op. cit., p. 284). 

3 See note p. 28. 

■> For similar tales, sec Dorsov and Kroeber, Arapalio Myths, op. oit., pp. 63-64. 



1908.] Wisslcr and Durall, Blackfuot Mijlhnhxjij. l^J 

and knees. The sight made the buffalo huio-h. One of them huiiihed 
himself to death, and the Old ISIan l)utehered liim.^ 

23. Adventures of Old Man. 

As Old Man was travelling along, he saw a roek, and said, "Xow I shall 
give you this robe." So he took off his robe and put it over the rock.- 
Now Old Man was travelling with his little brother the Fox, and as they 
went on it began to look like rain, so Old Man sent his little brother baek to 
get the robe. But when Fox came to the rock, and said that Old Man sent 
him for the robe because it was going to rain, the Rock said, "No, he gave 
it to me." Then Fox returned, and reported to Old ]\fan. This made 
Old ]Man very mad. He hurried back to the rock, and jerked off the robe, 
saying, "You have been here many years without a robe, and now you will 
not give it back to me when I need it." Then Old INIan went on. Presently 
he heard thunder. After a time Fox looked baek and saw the rock rolling 
after them. Then they began to run. They ran as fast as they could. 
Presently Old Man saw some buffalo-bulls, and called on them for helj). 
The bulls tried to stop the rock, but they were crushed. Then Old ]Man 
saw some bears, and called to them for help, but the bears could not stop 
the rock. Then Old INIan saw some night-hawks, and called out to them for 
help. Then the night-hawks flew down, and each time they came near the 
rock they discharged their flatus, causing pieces to fly olf. Finally the rock 
was broken to pieces, and from the inside came a bear and a bull [buffalo].^ 

Xow old Man came to a river where he saw some young night-hawks 
in a nest. "Oh, yes!" said he, "it was your father and mother who spoiled 
all my fun. They broke to pieces the rock that was chasing mc. Xow I 
shall tear your mouths." So he widened their mouths. When the old 
birds came back, the young ones told them what Old Man had said. So 
they pursued him. When they overtook him, they circled around and 
defecated over him. 

As Old Man ran to escape them, he met a man with leggings made of 
calf-skin. Old Man called out to him for help. Xow tho.se leggings were 
medicine, and the owner caused them to make a fire, which frightened the 
night-hawks away. Then the two men sat down. Old INIan said, "Stranger, 
give me your leggings." "Well," said the man, "I will give them to you in 
winter. You will not- need them in summer." Old INIan insisted, and 



1 Recorded among the Northeni Blackfoot by Dr. R. H. Lowie. For another version see 

Grinnell, op. cit., p. 170. 

- This account is in the form of a continuous narrative, repeating most of the iiicidonl.s 
contained in the preceding tales. It was narrated by a Nortli Piegan Indian. 

3 This incident does not occuii in other versions. 



38 Anthropological Papers American Mvseum of A'ahiral History. [Vol. II, 

finally the man said he would give them to him after a while. ^ "Well," 
said Old Man, "I am going over to the lodges you see yonder." 

Now when Old ]Man came to the lodges, he said to the people, "Let us 
have a game." (Ihis is a game in which the players move in a row. llie 
leader carries a stick one end of which is on fire, and he strikes the stick, 
causing the sparks to fly around.) Now in this game Old Man led, and 
carried the stick. The people who were playing were deer and elk peo])le. 
Then Old ]Man suggested that they play another game, ""Wherever the 
leader goes." [In this game the players all follow the leader.] They played 
this until night. Finally they came to a very high bank. Now Old Man 
played a trick. He said, "Wait!" and crept down at another place; then, 
running up to the foot of the clitf, called out, "You have not heard me for a 
while because I have been laughing. I found a nice soft place when I 
jumped down." So all the animals jumped do^\■n and were killed. There 
were some females among them about to become mothers, who begged Okl 
Man to be allowed to go. At last he granted their request. 

Then Old ^Nlan dried the meat and kept it. After it was all eaten up, 
he travelled on again. Finally he came to a place where some squirrels 
were ])laying at a game. The stjiarrels woidd be covered up by one of them 
with hot ashes. Old Man asked them to let him play, biit they declined. 
At length they agreed. Finally Old ]\Ian requested that he be allowed to 
cover them all up at once. Now there was one female scjuirrel who was 
about to become a mother, and she begged so pitifully of Old ^lan to let 
her go, that he consented. As he did so he said, "I Avill do this that there 
may be more scpiirrels in the workl." Then he covered all the s(|uirrels 
with the ashes, and when they became too hot, they called out to be uncovered; 
but Old ^lan paid no attention to this. So they died. Then Old ^Nlan 
brouglit some red willows and made a scaft'old ri])on which to jnit his meat. 
Hence, the red willow is greasy to this day. When he had i)r.t all the s(|uir- 
rels out on the scaft'old, he began to eat. Finally he could eat no more, 
l)Ut there were still many scjuirrels Icfr. Now he went to sleej), and said 
to his anus, "If any one comes along, you make a noise and wake me u])." 
So, whenever a bird or an insect came along, the anus nuule a noise, waking 
< )ld M;in. This made liim tired. Finally he was so sound asl(H>]) that he 
did not waken when tiie noise was made. Then a lynx cani(\ He soon 
found the s(iuirrels, and began to eat them. 

Now when ( )ld Man awoke, he was Imngry, but found his m(>at gone. 
Then he was very angry. So he followed the tracks of the lynx, and soon 
found him slee})ing on a flat stone. He caught the lynx, and tried to tear 



1 Comparison witli tlie i>refe(liiifr narrative (No. 14) will show how tlic story of the fire- 
leggings is made a part of the [ilot in this eoiitimious narratixe. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blaclfoot Mythology. 39 

him in two by pulling on his front and hind legs, but did not succeed. Ihcn 
he banged his nose on the rock, so that the lynx has a flat nose even to this 
day. I'hen he pulled out a bunch of hair from the pubes, and put it on the 
nose of the l^^lx for whiskers. Now Old ]Man was mad at his anus for all 
this. So he took a stick from the fire and rubbed it. This wood smells bad 
to this day. 

Then Old INIan started out but the burn was painful and he went up on 
a hill that the wind might fan it. There Avas no wind, so he rolled buffalo- 
t'hips down the hill in order to produce wind. At last the wind began to 
blow very hard, and he was carried along, bouncing up and down. He 
caught hold of bushes and trees, but none of them were strong enough to 
hold him. At last he caught hold of the birch. This did not break, but 
held him bouncing up and down. When the wind went down. Old Man 
was very angry. He scolded the birch for being so strong. Then he took 
out his knife and slashed the bark. [The cause of the markings on the bark.] 

Now the man who promised the leggings to Old ^Nlan came with them. 
He said, "You must not use them every day. Do not put them on unless 
you want to set things on fire. Wear them on the ice, and when you are 
hungry, dance and sing, and up will come food. But you must not do these 
things often." Old Man paid no attention to what was said, took the 
leggings, put them on, and began to dance, and when he did so they took 
fire; so he took them off as quickly as he could, and gave them back to their 
owner. 

At this time the women and the men were not married, and Old ^Nlan 
came to a place where the women were going to pick out husl)ands. Old 
Man stood among the men, but no one picked him out. This took ])lace 
in a buft'alo-drive. When Old Man found that he had not been chosen, he 
was very angry. He began to tear down the clift"; then he tiu'iied into a 
pine-tree, and has been there ever since. 



40 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 



II. STAR MYTHS. 

1. The Twin Brothers, or Stars.^ 

A long time ago there was a man by the name of Smart-Crow. Wlien 
he travelled, he always went by himself. One clay after he was married 
he tokl his wife that in the future two ehildren would be born to them, 
both boys. He predicted that one of them would be an outlaw ( ?) and the 
other a good man. Smart Crow knew this, because a Crow had given him 
the information in a dream. This Crow also told him, that, before his twO' 
children were born, an evil man would try to kill the'r mother. The Crow 
told the man that he must warn his wife. It said, "This man will come to- 
the lodge when you are away, and ask to come inside. Your wife must say 
nothing to him. He will repeat the visit four nights." The next time 
Smart-Crow went out to hunt, he told his wife about this dream, and warned 
her not to speak to the strange man. 

While Smart-Crow was away, the strange man came and stood before 
the lodge. After a while the woman thought to herself, "Why does not this 
man come in ? " Xow, the stranger had great power. He read the woman's 
thoughts, and, as soon as she thought this, the man answered by saying, 
"I will tell you why." So he entered the lodge and sat down, saying as he 
did so, "I knew you wished me to come in." Xow the woman began to 
cook some meat for the stranger, and when it was ready, she put it in some 
Avooden bowls, and placetl it before him. There were four kinds of bowls 
in the house. Some were made of hard knots of wood; some, of bark; 
some, of buffalo-horn; and some, of mountain-sheep horn. After the 
woman had cooked the meat, she placed it before the stranger in a wooden 
bowl. The stranger looketl at it and said, "That is not the kind of bowl 
from which 1 take my food." Then the woman took the food, and, putting 
it into a bark bowl, offered it to him again. "Xo," he said, "I do not take 
my food from Inirk." So the woman took the food, placed it in a bowl of 
buffalo-horn, and offered it to him for the third time. Again he refused^ 
saying that he did not take food from horns, 'i'he woman took back the 
food, and, putting it in a bowl of sheep-horn placed it before him; l)ut he 
refused to take food in such a dish. Xow the woman was troubled, and 
looked about the lodge for something in which to serve the food. Finally 
she saw a ])iece from tlic horn of a moose, and oH'crcd liiui food upon it 



' Soinetime.s .spoken of as the Origin of tlie Four- Tail Lodge; also spoken of as the Dusty 
Stars, or Puff-Halls. The Blackfoot have a curious belief that certain kinds of fungi are asso- 
ciated with the stars. Sometimes these fungi are spoken of as tlie "fiillen stars." See pp. 19,. 
42, 44, 60. 



1908.] Wissler ami Diirall, Black/out Mytholuyij. 41 

This he refuseil also. As she looked about for something else, she hap- 
pened to see a blanket. "That will not do, either," said the stranger. 
Then she offered her dress. "That is nearer the kintl I nuist have," he 
said. Then the woman said, "Oh, well, I will put the meat on my 
belly." "All right," said the stranger. The woman then lay down on her 
back, and placed the meat on her belly. She was heavy with child. The 
stranger had a white stone knife, which he sharpened and began to cut the 
meat. Three times he cut the meat; but the fourth time he said, "I came 
near cutting you." The fifth time he cut the woman open. Then twin 
boys came out. 

Thus the boys were born. They were twins. The stranger took one 
of them, put him down near the ashes, and as he did so said, "You shall 
be called Ashes-Chief." Then he took the other, stuck him behind the 
lining of the lodge, and said, "You shall be called Stuck-Behind." Then 
the man went away. He carried a small lodge, with the skin of the running- 
fisher, for a flag.^ 

After a while Smart-Crow returned from his hunt, bringing much buffalo- 
meat. As he came over the hill near his lodge, he saw no smoke rising 
from the smoke-hole. "Xow," he said to himself, "I know what has hap- 
pened. I knew that woman would invite the stranger in." When he 
entered the lodge, he saw Ashes-Chief lying by the fire. While he was look- 
ing at his wife's body he heard the other infant crying behind the lodge-lining. 

Now Smart-Crow was very angry, and rushed out in pursuit of the 
stranger. He followed his trail and soon overtook him. As he came up, 
he said to the stranger, "Xow I shall kill you." "My friend," said the 
stranger, "I will restore her to _\x)u." "I do not believe you," said Smart- 
Crow. "My friend, I tell you I will restore her," repeated the stranger. 
"I cannot believe it," said Smart-Crow. "]My friend," said the stranger, 
"I will restore her to you." "You are a liar," said Smart-Crow. Then 
the stranger began to sing a song. The words of this song were as follows: — 

"I am a great medicine [powerful]. 
Everything in the ground liears me. 
Everything in the sky hears me." 

When Smart-Crow heard this song, he believed in the ])romise of the 
stranger. Then the stranger took the bundle from his back, and said, "I 
give you this lodge and the running-fisher skin." The stranger set up the 
lodge. There were four buffalo-tails hanging to its sides. Two of these 
were cow-tails, and two were bull-tails. One of each hung in front, and 

1 The medicine object for a painted lodge is often .spoken of as a flag: i. c, an enibU-in hung 
from a pole. 



42 Anthropological Papers American Miisenm of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

also behind. This lodge was called the Four-Tail Lodge. The stranger 
told Smart-Crow that the hanging of the buffalo-tails on the lodge would 
make the buffalo range near it, so that the people would always have meat. 
The stranger transferred this lodge to Smart-Crow. He sat down u]:)on a 
stumj), explained the ritual to him, and also taught him the songs. Among 
other things he said, "1'he pimk which you use to make fires is made of 
bark, and does not kindle quickly; take puff-balls (fungus) instead, for they 
are much better. They are the Dusty Stars. You are to paint these stars 
around the bottom of the lodge. At the top of the lodge you are to paint 
the Seven Stars on one side and the Bunch Stars on the other. At the back 
of the lodge, near the top, you must make a cross to represent the Morning 
Star. I'hen around the bottom, above the Dusty Stars, you shall mark the 
mountains. Above the door, make four red stripes passing around the 
lodge. These are to represent the trails of the buffalo." 

When Smart-Crow had received all of the instructions belonging to the 
new lodge, and had learned all the songs, he went away with it and returned 
to his own lodge. He picked up Ashes-Chief, and said to a large rock lying 
near by, "I give you this child to raise." I'hen he jiulled down the lining 
of the lodge, picked up Stuck-Behind, and called out to his friend the beaver, 
" I give you this child to raise." So the rock and the beaver took the boys 
away. 

The boys grew up. When they were about fifteen years old, Smart- 
Crow began to wish that he might have them with him again. He went 
out to get them back; but the boys were wild, and knew nothing about 
})eople. So, when the boys saw him coming, Ashes-Chief ran into the 
rock and Stuck-Behind into the beaver's house. Then Smart-Crow took 
some arrows from his cjuiver, laid them down near the rock, and concealed 
himself in the bushes. After a while, Ashes-Chief came out, saw the arrows, 
and looked curiously at them. As the boy was about to j)ick them up, 
Smart-Crow sprang out and caught him. Now Ashes-Chief had been 
raised by the rock, and was so strong for his age that Smart-Crow was scarcely 
able to hold him. He saw that his son would soon break away; so he said, 
"Ashes-Chief, lick my hand, and you will know that 1 am a our father." 
1'hen Asli(>s-Chief licked his hand, stopped struggling, and said, "Yes, you 
are my father, and 1 will go with you." 

Now Smart-Crow was anxious to secure Stuck-Behind, and advised with 
Ashes-Chivf as to how to proceed. Finally they decided to draw him out 
of the beaver's house l)y ))laying (he hoo})-game. Smait-Crow concealed 
himself near the house while Ashes-Chief began to roll the hoop back and 
forth near the door. Stuck-Behind beciune curious to know about the 
hoop, and ventured out to ])lay. When he w;is outside, Smart-Crow sprang 



1908.] Wissler and Diirall, Blackfoot Mi/tliolog]/. 43 

upon him, and held him fast. Now, Stuck-Behind had been rai.'5ed by the 
beaver, and for that reason was very hard to liold. Smart-Crow said to 
him, "Lick my hand, and yoii will know that 1 am your father." He did 
so, and recognized his father. 

AYlien the boys were at home with their father, their names were changed. 
Ashes-Chief was now called Rock, and Stuck-Behind was called Beaver. 
Rock was the evil (?) one, and Beaver the good one, as the Crow had told 
their father in the dream. One day Rock said to his father, "Make me a 
bow and two arrows." "What do you want with bows and arrows?" said 
Smart-Crow. "Well," said Rock, "Beaver and I wish to go out to hunt 
buffalo. While we are gone, you must go back to our old lodge where the 
bones of our mother lie, and cut a stick such as she used for stirring the 
meat when cooking. Wait there for us until we bring the meat." 1 hen 
Rock and Beaver went on their way to hunt. 

Now, at this time, the people cooked in pots of clay. These were shaped 
out of mud by the hands, and put in the sun to dry; then the kettle was 
rubbed all over with fat inside and out, and placed in the fire. When it 
was red hot, it was taken out, and allowed to cool. Such a pot was good for 
boiling. Rock told his father to take one of his mother's ]wts, fill it with 
water, and put it over the fire so that it might be ready for his mother to boil 
meat. 

After a while the boys came up to their mother's lodge, where her skele- 
ton lay.^ They had a great deal of meat with them. Rock said, "Now, 
I shall take a little meat from each part of the buftalo, boil it in the ])Ot, and 
then make medicine to ])iit over the skeleton of our mother." Beaver said, 
"I shall help mother with the heart, the brains, and the marrow." Rock 
took uj) the tongue, blew his breath on it four times, and ])ut in into the 
pot. Then he took up the other parts, one at a time, and did the same. 
The brains and marrow, however, he laid to one side, and did not put them 
into the pot. Rock said to Beaver, " 1 will help mother in two thhigs 
and you may help her in the other two things." Now Smart-Crow was 
lying down in bed. The boys took his robe,' and covered their mother's 
bones. Then the pot began to boil more than ever, and Rock said to his 
father, "Get up, call mother, and tell her that her pot is about to boil over." 

The father arose from his bed, went over to the ])lace where the robe lay, 
and said, "Get up, woman! Your ])Ot is about to boil ovi-r." The bones 
did not move. Then Beaver called, "^lother, get u]) (luick! Your pot is 
boiling over." At this there was a little movement under the robe. Then 
Rock called out, "Mother, get up (|uick, and feed us!" At this there was 



1 In former times the dead were often left in the lodge, while tiie whole camp moved to 
another site. 



44 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. 11^ 

much movement under the robe, and parts of the woman's feet could be 
seen beneath the edge. Xow Beaver called to her, which made the fourth 
time, sayino;, "^Mother, get up cjuick! I have a heart, brains, and marrow 
for you to eat." 

The woman sat up and drew a deep breath. "I have had a long sleep," 
she said. "I am very hungry: I shall eat." The boys gave her some of 
each part of the buffalo to restore her to life. For eyes, they gave her the 
inside of the eyes; for brains, they gave her the brains; for tongue, part of 
the tongue; for heart, part of the heart, and so on. When she had eaten 
all of these, she got up and set food before her children and Smart-Crow, 
as she had always done. 

Then Smart-Crow said to his wife, " Let us move from this place, it is 
an unlucky place for us. Let us leave this lodge here and take the new one 
given me by the stranger. \Yhen this new lodge is up in a new place, make 
a sweat-house, that I may go through it, for we have a medicine-lodge now. 
I did not kill the stranger, because he promised to restore you to me, and 
gave me this new lodge. After all I have seen, I believe that this lodge is 
very powerful. You have been asleep for a long time. Your bones were 
bleached, now you are alive ; and it is the power of this lodge that made you 
so. When we are old, we will give this lodge to Beaver; he is a good man. 
Rock, on the other hand, is no good, and he will not live long." 

This happened out in the far north, when the Piegan lived there. • 

When the mother had put up the new lodge in a new place, she made a 
sweat-house. Smart-Crow put the skin of the running- fisher around his 
shoulders, painted his face, took off his breech-cloth and moccasins, and 
was ready to go through the sweat-house. Then he covered the sweat- 
house with the skin of the new lodge, that it also might be purified. When 
he came out of the sweat-house, he painted his wife and children, and, 
taking up the lodge, put it in place. When all this Avas arranged, the woman 
looked at the lodge, admiring it. "What are those round things at the 
bottom?" she said. 

"Those," said Smart-Crow, "are for two ])ur})oses. They will lu'lp 
us to live long and to make fire quickly." When they had gone inside of 
the lodge, Smart-Ci'ow said to his wife, "Xow I shall teach you how to use 
the smudge." Then he took some moss from the pine-tree and laid it u})on 
the fire, singing a song. "You are to do this," he said, "every morning and 
every night. Also you must sing two seven-songs [fourteen] that I shall 
teach you." 

Xow all this time Smart-Crow had been away from his people; but now 
he returnetl with his family and the new lodge. This created a great sensa- 
tion. 



1908.] Wissler ami Duvall, Blackfoot Mythology. 45 

Now the hoop that was used in catching Beaver was the big ganie-hooji. 
Rock and Beaver often phwed at this game. One chiy their father told 
them that they must not roll the hooj) in the same direction as the wind. 
Then they went out to play. Now Rock said to Beaver, "There is no 
reason why we shoidd not roll this hoop with the wind. Nothing will hajijien 
if we do." "Oh," said Beaver, "our father requested us not to do this, 
and we should obey him." However, Rock ])aid no attention to what he 
said, and started the hoop in the direction of the wind.. Now, the lioo]) 
continued to roll and roll. It would not stop, and as the boys followtnl 
along, waiting for it to fall, they were brought near a rock lodge. As the 
hoop rolled by, an old woman came out, took it in her hands, and invited 
the boys inside. They both went in.^ 

Now this old woman had some kind of power. She killed people by 
.suffocating them with smoke. As soon as the boys were seated, she took 
out a large pipe with a man's head for a bowl. Then she placed a great 
heap of wood on the fire, and, after shutting the door and the ears [smoke- 
hole] of the lodge, lighted the pipe and matle a great smoke. Then the old 
woman said to the boys, "Smoke with me." "No," said Rock. "You 
must," said the old woman, "because it is the custom for the guest to smoke 
with the head of the lodge." 

Now this old woman was a cannibal, and the boys knew it. So Rock 
said to the old woman, "Well, I will smoke with you." But Beaver refused. 
Then the old woman gave liack the hoop, which Beaver took and piit over 
his head. Rock took out a yellow plume and tied it to his hair. Now 
both of these things had power. The hoop kept the smoke away from Bea- 
ver's head, so that his head was in a hollow place surrouniled by thick smoke. 
The plume in Rock's hair whirled in the air, and kept the smoke from his 
face. Now the smoke was so thick at last that the old woman could not 
see. She did not know that the boys had such great power. It became so 
thick at last that she was almost suffocated herself. "Oh!" she said, "there 
is too much smoke." She tried to rise to open the door, but fell down dead. 
Then the boys went outside of the lodge, and called out as if talking to the 
old woman. In this way they made all manner of fun of her great power. 
Looking around, they found themselves near the rock that had raised Rock. 
Then Rock took an arrow from his quiver, spit ujion the point, di])})etl it 
into the water, and, pointing toward the rock, asked it for helj), saying, 
"INIake the arrow do what I wish." Then he threw the arrow at the lodge 
in which the old woman lived. It struck at the bottom, making a hole 
from which the water began to flow. The stream continued to increase in 



1 See Kroeber, Gros Ventre, op. cit., p. 109, where this incident appears as a separate tale. 



4G Anthropological Papers American Museum of A^atural History. [Vol. II,, 

size until it carried the lodge and rock away. Then the boys went home. 
Rock told his father everything that had happened, and laughed a great deal. 

There was a tall tree upon which grew some fine berries. The father 
said to them, "You must not eat those berries." Some time after, when the 
boys were out by themselves, Rock looked up at the tree, and said to Beaver, 
"Come, let us get some of those berries." But Beaver said, "No. Every 
time father requests us to do a thing, you do the opposite." But as Rock 
insisted upon getting the berries, Beaver consented. Now, beneath this 
tree lived a monstrous snake with a large horn in the middle of his head. 
When they came near the tree, Beaver was afraid, and said to Rock, "I do 
not wish to climb the tree. You get the berries." Then Rock began to 
climb the tree, and, when he was up in the branches, the snake came out of the 
bushes and began to climb the tree. When the snake came within reach, 
he tried to hook Rock; but, missing, his horn struck the tree and stuck 
fast. Then Rock broke the tree and twisted the trunk, which pulled out 
the snake's brains. This snake always killed people who came to gather 
berries. Then the boys took some of the berries and went home. Rock 
related the adventure to his father, and laughed as if it were but an incident. 

Once they were forbidden to shoot at the morning-bird. Now the 
morning-bird was a very powerful creature; every one was afraid to do 
anything to him. One day when the boys Avere out, they saw this bird, 
but could not get at him as he was high in the air. Later they saw the bird 
near the ground, and Rock suggested to Beaver that they send an arrow 
after it. Again Beaver tried to persuade Rock to heed the commands of 
their father; but without success. So Rock shot an arrow into the bird. 
It fell into the branches of a tree, almost within their reach. Rock stood 
upon a log and tried to reach the bird; but every time he tried, the l)ird got 
a little higher. Then he got upon a limb, and finally into the tree itself. 
Then, as he climbed the tree, the bird went higher antl higher, and the tree 
became taller and taller, until Beaver, who stood upon the ground, could not 
see them. Now Beaver felt very much ashamed that he had yielded to his 
brother's folly. He did not feci like going home to tell his father, so he sat 
down by the tree and began to cry. When this hap})ene(l, the boys were men, 
but Beaver cried so much at the foot of the tree that he became a dirty little 
ragged boy again. 

At this time the Piegan were out looking for buffalo, but could find none. 
They were forced to live upon such berries as they coiild find. One day 
an old woman was out gathering berries when she iuanl a child crying.' 
I^ookino; around, she I'oiuid licaver at the foot of the tree. lie was almost 



> Ste Araiialio incident (Dorsey and Kroeber, op. cit., p. 347). 



1908.] W'isslcr and D avail, Blackfuul Mijtholoy!/. 47" 

starved. The old woman felt sorry for hlin, ])icked him up ami took him 
home.^ She gave him to her daughter to care for, saying, "Here is my 
grandson. When he grows u}), he will run errands for us. You must feed 
him." Now, as they had no meat from which to make soup for the child, 
the daughter gathered some old hones around the camj) and l)oiled them in 
a kettle. A few days after this the chief of the camj), who had two beautiful, 
daughters for whom there were many suitors, made a })ublic announcement. 
He said, "To-morrow morning a [prairie] chicken will sit ujion a tall tree 
near the camp, and all the yoimg men are to shoot at it with bows and 
arrows. The man wlio hits it first shall receive my eldest daughter for a 
wife." 

Now Beaver was a very dirty little fellow, he even defecated in bed, 
and every one in the camp talked about his uncleanness. When he heard 
what the chief said, he said to the old woman who found him, "Make me 
some arrows and I will try to hit the bird." "Oh, you dirty thing!" said 
the woman in disgust. "You are a disgrace to the camp; you would 
nauseate everybody. The girl would not have you anyway." The boy 
insisted that the arrows shoidd be made for him; and, the fourth time he 
made the request, she made a bow and four arrows. All were very poorly 
constructed. 

When the time came for the young men to try theii' skill at shooting, 
the little boy came among the crowd, wearing an old ])iece of skin for a 
robe. He was pot-bellied. His eyes were sore and dirty. The jieople 
made fun of him. "What can you do?" they said. "What brought you 
anyway?" So they threw dirt at him and mocked him. TIumi the shooting 
began. One after the other, the young men tlischarged their arrows at the 
bird; but no one made a hit. Beaver looked at the bird in the tree, then 
discharged one of his arrows, which came near hittinsr the bird. 

Now there was a man in the crowd calletl Crow-Arrow, who had never 
been able to get a wife. He observed that the boy had some kind of ]:)Ower, 
and envied his success. Then he got his bow ready to discharge an arrow 
at the same time as the boy, and, in case the bird was hit, he would dispute 
the ownershi]) of the arrow. When the boy discharged his sccontl arrow, 
Crow-Arrow discharged his also. The boy's arrow struck the bird, and it 
fell to the ground. Crow-Arrow, who was very swift, ran at once to the 
spot, pulled out the boy's arrow and put in his own. The people, who 
were all looking On, said, "No, it was the boy who hit the bird." Then 
they all went before the chief, and announced to him that the little dirty boy 



1 This incident in conneftion with part of the preceding is a version of the widely distrib- 
uted Found-in-the-Grass Mytli. For a similar rendering, see Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths,, 
op. cit., p. 77. 



48 Anthropological Papers American Miiseum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

had won; but Crow-Arrow insisted that it was his arrow that killed the 
bird. The chief looked at the small dirty boy with disgust, and said to 
himself, "I cannot have him for my son-in-law, even if he did hit the bird." 
Then he said to the people, "Since there is a dispute about this, we will 
try something else. All the young men shall set wolf-traps, and whoever 
gets a black one or a white one shall be my son-in-law." 

Beaver went home and asked his grandmother to make him a wolf-trap. 
The grandmother saiti, "Oh, you get away from here, you dirty boy! No 
wolf would ever go into a trap you touched." But as Beaver insisted, she 
fixed up a trap just back of the lodge. In the evening, Beaver went out to 
fix his trap, and when morning came there was both a black and a white 
wolf in his traj). Xow Crow-ArroM" had set a trap also, and in the morning 
found a black wolf in his trap. Crow-Arrow hurried to the chief with his 
prize; but when he got there he found Beaver with two wolves, one black 
and one white. "Well," said the chief, "there is no dispute about it this 
time. The little dirty boy must be my son-in-law." 

So the eldest daughter was dressed up, her face painted, ami taken over 
to the lodge where Beaver lived. 

Now Beaver always defecated and urinated in his bed. AYhen the girl 
saw him she was disgusted, for his eyes were dirty and his abdomen was 
very large; but she gave him some food. He ate, and immediately defe- 
cated in the bed. His grandmother cleanetl him, anil scolded. After a 
while the girl and Beaver Ment to bed, l:)ut he dirtied the bed as usual. When 
the girl awoke, the condition of the bed caused her to vomit. The girl said 
she would not live with such a husband as this, and went over to live with 
Crow-Arrow. When the chief heartl this, he was very angry, because he 
knew that the little dirty boy possessed some kind of power, for which reason 
his daughter should have kept her promise. So, to make amends, he sent 
his youngest daughter over to be the wife of Beaver. Xow this girl was 
rather bashful, and when she came to the lodge where Beaver lived, she got 
behind the old woman, and, peeping out at him, whispered to the old woman, 
"I think that boy is very pretty. I shall stay with him because he is so 
nice, and I see no reason why my sister leff him." Then she went to bed 
with Beaver. He did as before, but the girl got up and asked the grand- 
mother for a piece of robe to clean the bed. She Avas cheerful and kind. 

Now all this time the jieople had been without meat, and the chief sent 
out the young men in every direction to look for buffalo, but none were 
seen. Beaver said to his wife, "You are to go home to-night and slay with 
your mother until I send for you." He said to his grandmother, "You also 
must go away from this lodge and not return until I call you. You must 
leave me alone here." As soon as the\- \\ere gone, Beaver took some vellow 



1908.] Wissler and Durall, Blackfoot Mythology. 49 

paint, jnit it in the hollow of his hand, mixed it with water, and painted his 
entire body. Then he took hold of his hair, pulled it down and painted it. 
At once be became a man, as before. Before him stood the Four-Tail 
Lodge of his father. In it was a dress covered with elk-teeth for his wife, 
also a fine white robe for himself. There were beds and other furniture in 
the lodge. Then Beaver sent out for the old woman, his grandmother, and 
when she came up directed her to wait outside of the door. Then he brought 
out a fine dress covered with elk-teeth, and told her to put it on. As soon 
as she did this, she became a young woman again. Then he sent the grand- 
mother over to the lodge of the chief to call his wife. The young woman did 
not recognize the grandmother, but followed her as recpiested; and when 
she came to the strange lodge she also failed to recognize Beaver. Beaver 
explained to her what had happened, and told her that she was to be re- 
warded for her kindness to him when he was such a dirty little boy. He 
brought out to her a fine dress covered with elk-teeth, and, rubbing paint 
upon her hair, pulled it gently until it became very long. Then he sent 
his wife to her father. When she came in she said, "Father, my husband is 
about to go out to drive the buflfalo over into the enclosure. There will be 
one white buffalo in the herd, and my husband requests that no one shoot 
it, but that it be roped and then knocked on the head so that no injury be 
done to the skin, for it is to be made into a robe." 

All the yovuig men of the camp went out with Beaver to drive the buffalo. 
Crow-Arrow also went. Beaver took a white rock and placed it near the 
edge of the enclosure, then he took up a rock colored like the beaver, and 
placed it on the other side. Then he directed the young men to lay rows 
of rocks spreading outward from these two. Then they laid down between 
them some buffalo-chips. As they were putting down the last Beaver 
shouted four times. Everybody looked around. They saw a herd of 
buffalo, a white one and a beaver-colored one in the lead. Then the men 
hid behind the rocks. This was a buffalo-drive.^ 

When the people were going out with Beaver to prepare the buffalo- 
drive, Crow-Arrow came upon an old buffalo-carcass. He cut out some 
of the spoiled meat, and carried it back to the chief to make him believe 
that he had the power to get meat first. While Crow-Arrow was on his way 
back, he heard the shouting and the noise of the buffalo going over. He 
ran up as quickly as he could, and saw the white buffalo already roped and 
about to be knocked upon the head. Looking around, he saw the beaver- 
colored one and shot it. When the bufl'alo were killed, Beaver called to his 
wife, directed her to take his arrows, rul) them over the skin of the white 

1 See Arapaho incidents (Dorsey and Kroeber, op. cit., pp. 349, 355, 374, 386). 



50 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xafurul History. [Vol. II, 

buffalo, and throw them away. These arrows were feathered with eagle- 
tails. As the woman threw them from her, all the yomig men fought for 
them, because they were regaided as very good medicine. When Crow- 
Arrow saw this, he directed his wife to take his arrows and do likewise with 
the skin of the beaver-colored buffalo. Crow-Arrow's arrows were made of 
crow-feathers. Now when Beaver's wife rubbed the arrows over the skin 
of the white buffalo, it was made smooth and clean; but when the wife of 
Crow-Arrow rubbed the skin of the beaver-colored buft'alo, it did not change. 
So when she threw her arrows away, no one seemed anxious to pick them up. 
Now the wife of CroAv-Arrow, the same one who deserted Beaver, felt 
ashamed. She came close to Beaver, and said, "I wish you would give me 
some of your arrows to clean the skin." "No," said Beaver. "Once I 
married you, but you refused to live with me or to clean me: now I shall 
not help you clean skins." When Crow-Arrow saw what had happened 
he was very angry, and M-ent home with his wife. He was very angry be- 
cause Beaver seemed to have greater power than he. Now Crow-Arrow 
was a great medicine-man, and so he transformed himself and his family 
into crows, and they flcAV out at the top of their lodge. Then the crows 
flew around all of the lodges, and called out to the people in crow-language, 
"We shall starve you; Ave shall take all the buffalo aAvay from you, and 
starA'e you to death." 

After this no buffalo Avere seen in the country, because the croAvs took 
the buffalo OA-er the mountains.^ Beaver and his people Avere soon driven 
to starvation; but the croAVs returned, flcAv around over their lodges and 
mocked them. So Beaver called the people together in council and said 
to the young men, "What can you do? Has any one poAver to bring back 
the buffalo ?" No one seemed to have such ]:)OAver. This Avas in the winter. 
Then BeaA-er said, "Let tAvo young men go to the place Avhere the beaA^er 
Ha^cs, cut a hole in the ice, build a fire and try to smoke the beaver out. 
Then I shall transform myself into a beaver and lie by the hole as if dead." 
The young men did as directed. During the night, Beaver Avent doAvn to 
the place, transformed himself into a beaver and lay doAvn upon the ice as 
if dead. Part of the skin was pulled aAvay, and his entrails could be seen. 
While he Avas lying there, CroAv-[ArroAv] flcAV up, looked down, and said, 
"Oh, yes! I knoAV your game. I knoAv you. It is no use for you to try 
to get me in this Avay. Your people will starA^e. You think you are very 
smart, but you cannot get me. It is no use to try me in that way, because 
I knoAv too much." None of this made any impression upon Beaver, Avho 

1 From this point forward, the narrative is similar to the Dos and tlie Stick (Grinnell, op. 
cit., p. 145). In that tale, NapivV, or the Old Man, takes the part played by Beaver in the above. 
The incident occurs among the Arapaho as a detached story (Dorsey and Kroeber, op. cit., p. 
459). 



190S.] Wisslcr ami Ditvall, Blackj'ooi M/jthologi/. ol 

lookotl precisely like a corpse. Then Crow said to himself, "Well, after 
all, I believe it is a real dead beaver." He came down and looked closely 
at the corpse, and pecked at the breast and eyes. They were all frozen 
hard: he could not make a dent in them. So the Crow took up a piece of 
fat from the entrails. He flew to a place and began to eat. Then he said, 
"Yes, it is a real beaver." Then Crow went back to the corpse and began 
to eat. Beaver lay still for a while, but suddenly transformed himself into 
a man, sprang upon the Crow and caught him. As he struggled, the Crow 
cried, "Let me go! let me go! I will get buffalo for you." "No," said 
Beaver, "you are a liar. I shall hold on to you this time. I shall surely 
punish you." So he broke the wing of the Crow, took him home and tied 
him to the smoke-hole of the lodge. Then Beaver gathered a lot of birch- 
wood and threw it into the fire, making a very black smoke. Now, up to 
this time, all crows were white; and while Crow was crying in the top of the 
lodge, "Oh, let me go! let me go! I will bring yon buffalo surely," the 
smoke made him black, and crows have been black ever since. After Crow 
was as black as he could be, Beaver consented to let him go if he would call 
the buffalo. Crow promised, but, as soon as he was released, he flew to the 
top of the lodge and called back, "I shall let you starve, I shall let you 
starve. I was just fooling." 

Then the people of the camp scolded Beaver. They said, "You knew 
that he was a liar. You knew that he would not keep his word. You 
should have ke})t him fast until he produced the buffalo." "Well," said 
Beaver, "I will get the buffalo myself." One of the men said, "I should 
like to go with you." "What kind of power, have you?" said Beaver. 
"Well, I have some power," said the man. "I can transform myself into 
a swallow, a pup, and a spider." "Well, you have some power," said 
Beaver, "but I have greater power. I can transform myself into anything, 
but you may come Avith me." 

Now, the name of this man was Little-Dog. He transformed himself 
into a swallow, and Beaver became a prairie-chicken. Then they started 
out to look for buffalo. As they went along, I.<ittle-Dog saw Crow's camp 
in the distance. Then he transformed himself into a spider, and, coming 
up to a man belonging to Crow's camp, inquired of him the whereabouts 
of Crow. The man informed him that he had gone over the mountain 
to live, and that there was a very high cliff lu'liind them. Then TJttle-Dog 
transformed himself into a swallow, and Beaver into a horse-fly. Together 
they flew over the cliff". Here they saw Crow's camp. While they were 
looking, Crow's ])eople moved their c-amp. Then Little-Dog transformed 
himself into a spider, and Beaver became a pine-tree. Now the two watched 
a long time for the butt'alo; but thev saw no trace of them around Crow's 



52 Anthro-pological Papers American Musetmi of Natural History. [\o\. II, 

camp. One day they saw Crow go away. Then they went to the place 
where the camp was first seen, and Beaver transformed himself into a 
digging-stick, and I..ittle-Dog became a pup. After a ^\•hiIe the young 
daughter of Crow came oiit to look around the old cam])ing-place. She 
found the digging-stick and the pup, and carried them home with her. 
When she came up to her lodge, her mother was tanning a hide. The girl 
said to her, "Mother, these things were left behind when we moved camp." 
So the woman thought no more of it, and the girl took the two into the 
lodge to jilay. Znow the girl was very fond of the pup, antl carried it aljout 
in her arms, with the digging-stick stuck on her back in the way that 
women carry babies. While the girl was ]')laying with the pup, as children 
do, she raised up the edge of the bed. There was a dee]) hole under it, 
and, holding the pup over it, she said, "Pup, do you see that deep hole? 
Do you see all the buffalo down there?" Now Little-Dog and Beaver 
looked down into the hole and saw Avhere the buffalo were hidden. As 
the girl was looking over, the digging-stick sli])])ed from her back into the 
hole, and ])U]) grew into a large dog, so large that he slipped down of his 
own weight. The girl was very much frightened, but Avent away withoist 
saying anything to her mother. 

So Beaver and I-ittle-Dog fell down into the hole. Beaver transformed 
himself into a man, and Little-Dog l)ecame a monstrous dog. At once he 
began to bark and chase the buffalo, and the man ran after them shotting. 
This frightened the buffalo so much that they dashed uj) through the hole 
and out u]ion the earth. There were so many buffalo that it took them a 
long time to get out; so that Crow returned while Beaver and Little-Dog 
were still driving buffalo. Crow knew who was driving them out, and took 
his station by the side of the hole, waiting to kill them. However, they 
were not to be caught so easily. Beaver caugiit hold of a buffalo, trans- 
formed himself into a stick, and concealed himself in the long hair of the 
neck. I.,ittle-Dog l)ecame a ])U]) once more, and fastened his teeth in the 
long hair of the breast of a buffalo. 'Jlu.s they were carried o'.it, iniobserved 
by Crow. 

Now tlu^ buffalo were running over the earth, they were restored to the 
people once m()r(\^ 

After this, Beaver returned to his ])eoj)le. One day hv told his wife 
that she must never ])ut sagebrush on the fire as it was against his medicine; 
but one day his wife forgot this, and threw the sagebrush into tlu> fire while 
Beaver was away. When Beavei- came in, he knew what had been done. 
He said to his wife, "Now, since vou have used the saii'el)rush for tlu' fire, 



• The confinement of l)ufTalo in a cave is an incident often found in the mythology of the 
buffalo area. For its recurrence in this collection see pp. 123, 124. 



1908.] Wissler ami Duvall, Blockfoot Mythology. 53 

I must leave you and go to my brother. You will never see me here again." 
Then he took his white robe and a plume. He blew the })lume u]) into the 
air and rose to the sky. His brother had been carried to the sky on the 
branches of a tree, and Beaver went up to him. Now they are both stars. 
Every night we see two large stars side by sitle: these are the two brothers, 
Ashes-Chief and Stuck-Behind. 

2. Blood-Clot, or Smokixg-Star. ' 

Once there was an old man and woman whose three daughters married 
a young man. The old people lived in a lodge by themselves. The young; 
man was supposed to hunt buffalo, and feed theha all. Early in the morn- 
ing the young man invited his father-in-law to go out with him to kill buffalo. 
The old man was then directed to drive the buffalo through a gap where 
the young man stationed himself to kill them as they went by. As soon as 
the buffalo w^ere killed, the young man recjuested his father-in-law to go 
home. He said, "You are old. You need not stay here. Your daughters 
can bring you some meat." Now the young man lied to his father-in-law; 
for when the meat was brought to his lodge, he ordered his wives not to give 
meat to the old folks. Yet one of the daughters took pity on her parents, 
and stole meat for them. The way in which she did this was to take a piece 
of meat in her robe, and as she went for water drop it in front of her father's 
lodge. 

Xow every morning the young man invited his father-in-law to himt 
buffalo: and, as before, sent him away and refused to permit his daughters 
to furnish meat for the old people. On the fourth day, as the old man was 
returning, he saw a clot of blood in the trail, and said to himself, "Here at 
least is something from which we can make soup." In order that he might 
not be seen by his son-in-law, he stumbled, and spilt the arrows out of his 
quiver. Xow, as he picked up the arrows, he put the clot of blood into the 
quiver. Just then the young man came up and demanded to know what it 
was he picked up. The old man explained that he had just stumbled, and 
was picking up his arrows. So the old man took the clot of blood home and 
requested his wife to make blood-soup. "When the pot began to boil, the 
old woman heard a child crying. She looked all around, but saw nothing. 
Then she heard it again. This time it seemed to be in the pot. She looked 
in cjuickly, and saw a boy baby: so she lifted the pot from the fir(>, took the 
baby out and wrapped it up. 

I This is a widelv distributed tale, and very popular ainonsr Plains tribes. .\ footnote ta 
an Arapaho version (Dorsey and Kroelier, op. cit., ]). i!9Si Rives its u'enerul distribution The 
version given here is in close agreement with a Gros Ventre rendering (.Kroeber, op. cit., p. S2). 



54 Anthropoloyical Papers American Museum of Xatnral Histur>j. [\o\. II, 

Now the young man, sitting in his lodge, heard a babv crying, and said, 
"Well, the old woman must have a baby." Then he sent his oldest wife 
over to see the old woman's baby, saying, "If it is a boy, 1 will kill it." The 
woman came in to look at the baby, but the old woman told her it was a girl. 
When the young man heard this, he did not believe it. So he sent each 
wife in turn; but they all came back with the same report. Xow the young 
man was greatly pleased, because he could look forward to another wife. 
So he sent over some old bones, that soup might be made for the baby. 
Now, all this happened in the morning. That night the baby spoke to the 
old man, saying, "You take me up and hold me against each lodge-pole in 
succession." So the old man took up the baby, and, beginning at the door, 
went around in the direction of the sun, and each time that he touched a pole, 
the baby became larger. When halfway around, the baby was so heavy that 
the old man could hold him no longer. So he put the baby down in the 
middle of the lodge, and, taking hold of his head, moved it toward each of 
the poles in succession, and, when the last pole was reached, the baby had 
become a very fine young man. Then this young man '\^ent out, got some 
black flint [obsidian] and, when he got to the lodge, he said to the old man, 
"I am the Smoking-Star. I came down to help you. When I have done 
this, I shall return." 

Now, when morning came, Blood-Clot (the name his father gave him) 
arose and took his father out to hunt. They had not gone very far when 
they killed a scabby cow. Then Blood-Clot lay down behind the cow and 
requested his father to wait until the son-in-law came to join him. He also 
requested that he stand his groimd and talk back to the son-in-law. Now, 
at the usual time in the morning, the son-in-law called at the lodge of the old 
man, but was told that he had gone out to hunt. This made him very angry, 
and he struck at the old Avoman, saying, " I ha\e a notion to kill you." So 
the son-in-law went out. 

Now Blood-Clot had directed his father to be eating a kidney when the 
son-in-law approached. WhiMi the son-in-law came up and saw all this, he 
was very angry. He said to the old man, "Now you shall die for all this." 
*'Well," said the old man, "you must die too, for all that you have done." 
Then the son-in-law began to shoot arrows at the old nuin, and the latter, 
becoming frightened, called on Blood-Clot for help. 'Jhcii Blood-Clot 
sprang uj) and upbraided the son-in-law for his cruelty. "Oh," said the 
son-in-law, "1 was just fooling." At this Blood-Clot shot the son-in-law 
through and through. Then Blood-Clot said to his father, "We will leave 
this meat here: it is not good. Your son-in-law's house is full of dried 
meat. Which one of your daughters helped you?" The old man told him 
that it was the voungest. Then Blood-Clot went to the lodge, killed the 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mythology. 55 

two older women, brought up the body of the son-in-law, and burned them 
together. Then he requested the younger daughter to take eare of her old 
parents, to be kind to them, etc. ^ "Now," said Blood-Clot, " I shall go to 
visit the other Indians." 

So he started out, and finally came to a camp. He went into thv lodge 
of some old women, who were very much surprised to see such a fine voung 
man. They said, "Why do you come here, among such old women as we? 
Why don't you go where there are young people?" "Well," said Blood- 
Clot, "give me some dried meat." Then the old women gave him some 
meat, but no fat. "Well," said Blood-Clot, "you did not give me the fat 
to eat with my dried meat." "Hush!" said the old women. "You must 
not speak so loud. There are bears here that take all the fat and give us the 
lean, and they will kill you, if they hear you." "Well," said Blood-Clot, 
"I will go out to-morrow, do some butchering, and get some fat." Then he 
went out through the camp, telling all the people to make ready in the morn- 
ing, for he intended to drive the buffalo over [the drive]. 

Now there were some bears who ruled over this camp. They lived in a 
bear-lodge [painted lodge],^ and were very cruel. When Blood-Clot had 
driven the buffalo over, he noticed among them a scabby cow. He said, 
"I shall save this for the old women." Then the people laughed, and said, 
"Do you mean to save that poor old beast? It is too poor to have fat." 
However, when it was cut open it was found to be very fat. Now, when the 
bears heard the buffalo go over the drive, they as usual sent out two bears 
to cut off the best meat, especially all the fat; but Blood-Clot had already 
butchered the buffalo, putting the fat upon sticks. He hid it as the bears 
came up. Also he had heated some stones in a fire. When they told him 
what they wanted, he ordered them to go back. Now the bears were very 
angry, and the chief bear and his wife came up to fight, but Blood-Clot 
killed them by throwing hot stones down their throats. Then he went 
down to the lodge of the bears and killed all, excej^t one female who was 
about to become a mother. She pleaded so pitifully for her life, that he 
spared her. If he had not done this, there would have been no more bears 
in the world, '^llie lodge of the bears was filled with dried meat and other 
property. Also all the young women of the camp were confined there. 
Blood-Clot gave all the property to the old women, and set free all the young 
women. The bears' lodge he gave to the old women. It was a hviw jinintrd 
lodge. 

1 The preceding is similar to a version by Maclean, The Indians of Canada, 1892, p. 169. 
This author passes over the other parts of the story with "Kutoyis employed all his lime in 
driving the evil out of the world.' See, also, the same author, Journal of American Folk-Lore, 
Vol. VI, p. 167. 

2 For a note on these lodges, see p. 92. 



56 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural Histonj. [Vol. II, 

"Now," said Blood-Clot, "I must go on my travels." He came to a 
camp and entered the lodge of some old women. When these women saw 
what a fine yoimg man he was, they said, "Why do you come here, among 
such old women? Why do you not go Avhere there are younger people?" 
"Well," said he, "give me some meat." The old women gave him some 
dried meat, but no fat. Then he said, "Why do you not give me some fat 
with my meat?" "Hush I" said the women, "you must not speak so loud. 
There is a snake-lodge [j^ainted lodge] here, and the snakes take everything. 
They leave no fat for the people." "Well," said Blood-Clot, "I will gO' 
over to the snake-lodge to eat." "No, you must not do that," said the old 
women. "It is dangerous. They will surely kill you." "Well," said he, 
"I must have some fat with my meat, even if they do kill me." Then he 
entered the snake-lodge. He had his white rock knife ready. Now the 
snake, who was the head man in this lodge, had one horn on his head. He 
was lying with his heatl in the lap of a beautiful woman. He was asleep. 
By the fire was a bowl of berry-soup ready for the snake when he should 
wake. Blood-Clot seized the bowl and drank the souji. Then the woman 
warned him in whispers, "You must go away: you must not stay here." 
But he said, "I want to smoke." So he took out his knife and cut off the 
head of the snake, saying as he did so, "Wake up I light a pipe! I want tcv 
smoke." Then Avith his knife he began to kill ah the snakes. At last there 
was one snake who was about to become a mother, and she pleaded so piti- 
fully for her life that she was allowed to go. From her descended all the 
snakes that are in the world. Now the lodge of the snakes was filled up with 
dried meat of every kind, fat, etc. Blood-Clot turned all this over to the 
people, the lodge and everything it contained. Then he said, "I must go 
away and visit other people." 

So he started out. Some old women advised him to keep on the south 
side of the road, because it was dangerous the other way. But Blood-Clot 
paid no attention to their warning. As he was going along, a great wind- 
storm struck him and at last carried him into the mouth of a great fish."^ 
This was a sucker-fish and the wind was its sucking. When he got into the 
stomach of the fish, he saw a great many people. INIany of them were dead, 
but some were still alive. He said to the people, "Ah, there must be a 
heart somewhere here. We will have a dance." So he painted his face 
white, his eyes and mouth with black circles, and tied a white rock knife 
on his head, so that the point stuck up. Some rattles made of hoofs were 
also brought. Then the people started in to dance. For a while Blood-Clot 
sat making wing-motions with his hands, and singing songs. Then he stood 

1 For a siiiiihir incident, see J. O. Dorsey, op. cit., p. 34. 



1908.] Wisslcr and Duvall, Bhickjoot M ijtholoijy. 57 

up and danced, jumpino; up and down until the knife on his head struck 
the heart. ^ Then he cut the heart down. Next he cut tln-ough between 
the ribs of the fish, and let all the people out. 

Again Blood-Clot said he must go on his travels. Before starting, the 
people warned him, saying that after a while he would see a woman who wa.s 
always challenging people to wrestle with her, but that he must not speak to 
her. He gave no heed to what they said, and, after he had gone a little wav, 
he saw a woman who called him to come over. "No," said Blood-Clot. 
"I am in a hurry." However, at the fourth time the woman asked him to 
come over, he said, "Yes, but you must wait a little while, for I am tired. I 
wish to rest. When I have rested, I will come over and wrestle with vou." 
Now, while he was resting, he saw many large knives sticking up from the 
ground almost hidden by straw. Then he knew that the woman killed the 
people she wrestled with by throwing them down on the knives. ^Vhen 
he was rested, he went over. The woman asked him to stand up in the 
place where he had seen the knives; but he said, "No, I am not ciuite readv. 
Let us play a little, before we begin." So he began to play with the woman, 
but quickly caught hold of her, threw her upon the knives, and cut her in two. 

Blood-Clot took up his travels again, and after a while came to a camp 
where there w^ere some old women. The old women told him that a little 
farther on he would come to a woman with a swing,- but on no account 
must he ride with her. After a time he came to a place where he saw a 
swing on the bank of a swift stream. There was a woman swinging on it. 
He watched her a while, and saw that she killed people by swinging them 
out and drojDping them into the water. \Mien he found this out, he came up 
to the woman. "You have a swing here; let me see you swing," he said. 
"No," said the woman, "I want to see you swing." "Well," said Blood- 
Clot, "but you must swing first." "Well," said the woman, "Now I shall 
swing. Watch me. Then I shall see you do it." So the woman swung out 
over the stream. As she did this, he saw how it worked. Then he said to 
the woman, " You swing again while I am getting ready; " but as the woman 
swung out this time, he cut the vine and let her drop into the water. This 
happened on Cut Bank Creek.^ 

"Now," said Blood-Clot, "I have rid the world of all the monsters, I will 
go back to my old father and mother." So he climb(>d a high ridge, and 
returned to the lodge of the old couple. One day he said to them, "I shall 

1 This is regarded as the origin of a ceremony known as the "dance of the spirits of the 
dead," or "ghost dance." The knife tied on the liead is said to gHsten or give off hght, like a 
halo (smoke), hence the name Smoking-Star. 

- For a different rendering, see Grinnell, op. cit., p. 37. However, the swing is fonnd among 
the Gros Ventre (Kroeber, oil cit., p. 87) and the Fox (Jones, op. cit., p. 103). 

3 Grinnell's version contains another incident. After this adventnre. Blood-Clot is eaten 
four times by a cannibal. In each case tlie bones are restored to life by a little girl. After 
tlie fourth restoration Blood-Clot kills the cannibal (op. cit., p. 37). 



58 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [^'ol. II, 

go back to the ])lace from whence I came. If you find that I have been 
killed, you must not be sorry, for then 1 shall go up into the sky and become 
the Smoking-Star." Then he went on and on, until he was killed by some 
Crow Indians on the war-path. His body was never found; but the moment 
he was killed, the Smoking-Star appeared in the sky, where we see it now. 

o. The Fixed Star. 

One summer night when it was very hot inside the lodge, two young 
women went outside to sleep. They woke up before daylight and were 
looking u]) at the sky, when one of them saw the Morning Star. She said 
to her companion, "That is a very bright star. I should like him for a 
husband." She soon forgot what she had said. In a few days these two 
young women went out from the camp to gather wood. AVhen they had 
made up their packs and were drawing them up on their shoulders with 
the pack-straps, the strap broke that belonged to the girl who said she wished 
the INIorning Star for her husband. Every time she made up her bundle 
and raised it to her back, the strap Avould break. Her companion, who 
was standing by her side with her pack on her shoulders, began to grow 
weary. She said, "I shall go on with my load: you can follow." 

When the young woman was left alone, and had made up her bundle 
again, a handsome young man came out of the brush. He wore a fine 
robe made of beaver-skins, and had an eagle-])lr.me in his hair. AVhen 
the young woman started to go on, he stepped in front of her. Whichever 
way she turned, he headed her off. Finally she said to him, "Why do you 
head me off?" The young man replied, "You said you would take me for 
your husband." "No," said the young Avoman, "you must be mistaken. 
I never had anything to do with you. I do not know you." "I am the 
■Morning Star," said the stranger, "and one night, when you looked uj) at 
me, you said that you wished me for a husband. Now 1 have come for 
you." "Yes, I did say that," said the young woman. So she consented 
to go away with him. ^Ilien Morning Star ])ut an eagle ])lume in her hair, 
and told her to shut her eyes. Then they wc>nt up into the sky. 

Now the Sun was the father of the Morning Star and the ^loon was his 
mother. Wh(Mi they came into the lodge, INIorning Star saitl to his jiarents, 
"I have brought a wife with me." The jiarents were jileased with what 
their son had done. Moon gave the young wife four berries and a few 
drops of water in a little shell. These were given to her to eat and to drink. 
Though the young woman was very hungry, she could neither eat all of the 
berries nor drink all of the water, because these berries were all the food 



190S.] Wissler and Dumll, Blachjuot Mijtlioloyy. 59 

there was in the -world and the shell eontained all the water there was in the 
ocean (?). 

After a time, Moon said to her daughter-in-law, "Now I shall give you a 
root-digger, and von niav go out to dig roots; but von are not to dig that big 
turnip there, because it is medicine [natoji'wa]." So the young woman went 
about the sky country digging roots for their food. She often looked at 
that fine large turnip growing there, anil was curious to know why she was 
forbidden to dig it up. In course of time she gave birth to a child. One 
day, when it was old enough to sit alone, she said to herself as she went out 
to dig roots, "Now no one will know about it if I do dig it up." So she stuck 
her digging-stick into the groiuiil under the tm-ni]); but, when she tried to 
raise it, the stick would not move. When she foinul that she coukl not get 
the stick out, she began to cry. Then two large white cranes flew down; 
one was a male and the other a female. The yotnig woman prayed to them 
for help to get her root-digger out of the ground. Then the Crane- Woman^ 
said, "When I married I was true to my vow. I never had an^lhing to do 
with any other man than my husband. It is because of this that I have 
power to help you. Your mother - gave you this digging-stick. Now I shall 
teach you the songs that go with it." Then Crane- Woman made a smudge, 
took the hands of the woman into her own, and, while she sang the songs, 
placed them upon the digging-stick. Then Crane-Woman })ulled out the 
stick, and, marching aroimd in the direction of the siui, nuule three move- 
ments toward the turnip, and with the foiu'th dug it out. Now the yotmg 
woman took the digging-stick and the tin-nip home with her. When they 
saw what she had, they reprimanded her. jNIorning Star said to her. "What 
did you see when you dug out this turnip ? " The woman replieil. "I looked 
down through the hole and saw the earth, the trees, th(> rixcrs, and the lodges 
of my people." 

"Now," said Morning Star, "I cannot keep you any longer. You must 
take the boy with you and go back to your people; but when you get there 
you must not let him touch the groimd for two-seven [foiu'teiMi] days. If he 
should touch the ground before that time, he will l)ecome a })uft'-ball [a 
fungus], go up as a star, and fit into the hole from which you dug the turnip. 
He will never move from that place, like the other stars, but will always be 
still." 

Sun said to her, "I shall call in a man to help you tlown to the earth." 
After a while a man came with a strong spider-web, to one end of which he 



1 In all Blackfoot narratives where animals take important parts in medicine procedure, it 
is assumed that thev are persons in disguise, and "become as people." 

2 In all ceremonial gifts or transfers, the giver is spoken of as a father or mother, according 
to the sex; hence the thought is, that this digging-stick was not an ordinary gift, but carried 
with it ceremonial obligations. 



60 Anthropological Papers American Museuyn of Natural History. [Vol. 11^ 

tied the woman and the boy, and let them down through the hole from which 
the turnip was taken. The woman came down over the camp of her own 
people. The young men of the camji were playing at the wheel-game. 
One of them happened to look up into the sky, where he saw something 
coming down. Xow this young man had very poor eyes, and, when he told 
his companions that something was coming down from the sky, they looked, 
and, seeing nothing, made sport of him. x\s he still insisted, they, in derision, 
threw dirt into his eyes. But after a while they, too, saw something coming 
down from the sky. As the woman reached the ground in the centre of the 
camp, some one, recognizing her, called out, "Here is the woman who never 
came back" with her wood." Then all her friends came out to meet her, 
and her mother took her home. 

Now, before the woman left the sky, Morning Star told her, that, since 
she had made one mistake in digging up the turnip, she would no doubt 
make another mistake, and allow the child to touch the ground before the 
time was up. So he advised her to make the sign of the ^Morning Star on 
the back of her lodge, so that she might be reminded daily of her duty, 
(The doors of the lodges at that time faced the sun, and the sign of the 
Morning Star was to be made upon the back of the lodge, because he always 
travels on the other side from the sun.) 

The young woman kept careful watch over the boy for thirteen days. 
On this day her mother sent her out for water. Before going out, the young 
woman cautioned her mother to keep the child upon the bed, and not allow 
him to touch the ground. Now the grandmother was not so careful, be- 
cause she did not understand the reason for watching the child; and while 
her back was turned he crawled out upon the ground. When she saw him, 
she caught him up, putting him back on the bed as (juickly as she could. 
This seemed to make the child angry, for he pulled the robe up over himself. 
The grandmother paid no further attention to him. 

2'\ow, when the boy's mother came back, she looked around, and said, 
"Where is my child?" "Oh, he covered himself up with a robe," said the 
grandmother. The young mother rushed to the l)ed, pulled back the robe, 
and found nothing but a puff-ball [fungus]. She caught this up, ;ni<l can-icd 
it in her bosom all the time. 

That evening when the stars came out, .she looked up into the sky. A 
new star stuck in the hole from which .she ])ulled the turnij). Then she 
knew what had become of her child. 

This is the way the Fixed Star came to be. 

After this the woman painted circles around the bottom of her lodge to 
represent the puft'-ball, or the Fallen Star [the one that came down]. She 
had already painted the INIorning Star on the back of her lodge. 'J'his is 



1908.] Wissler and DuraU, Blackfout Mythology. 61 

why the people paint then- lodges in the way that you see them. Also this 
woman brought down the turnip and the digging-stick. Crane- Woman 
taught her the songs that go with them and their use in the sim-dance. This 
was the beginning of the medieine-woman [leader in the sun-dance]. 

]Many years after, this woman, while holding the sun-dance, made another 
mistake. She took some of the offerings from the sun lodge. When she 
did this, she died.^ 

4. Scar-Face. 

(fl) Version bij a Picgan Man. 

Once there was a very poor young man who I'ved with his sister. He 
had a chum. In the camp was a very fine girl, the tlaughter of a chief, 
with whom all the yoimg men were in love. Now the poor young man was 
in love with her also, but he had a long, ugly scar on his cheek. One day 
he asked his sister to go over to the chief's lodge to jiersuade the girl to marry 
him. Accordinglv, the sister went over; but when the girl found out what 
she wanted, she said that she was willing to marry Scar-Face whenever 
that ugly scar disappeared. She made all manner of fun of Scar-Face. 

Now the sister returned and told Scar-Face what the girl had said. He 
was very much hurt, and decitled to go away to seek some one who could 
aid him in removing the scar. Yet, though he travelled far, no one could 
tell him where to go for aid. At last he decided to go to the Sun. So he 
travelled on anil on, and the farther he went, the blacker the )>eople became. 
As he went along, he ini|uired for the Sun's house. Always he was told to 
go on until he came to a very high ridge where some j)eoj)le lived who could 
tell him the whereabouts of the Sun's house. At last Scar-Face came to 
this ridge. There he saw a nude man with very black skin and curly hair. 
Scar-Face called to him, "Where is the Sun's lodge?" "It is at the end of 
this ridge," said the black man. "But go back I go back! You will be 
burned very badly!" Scar-Face said, "Well, I shall go on anyway; it is 
better to die than to go back." "Look at mel" said the black man. "You 
can see how I have been bin-netl black. You had best take my advice and 
go no farther." "Where do you live?" asked Scar-Face. "1 have a cave 
to live in," replied the black man. "I stay in this cave when the sun is hot, 
otherwise I should be burned up." (It was just about sundown that Scar- 
Face met the black man.) The black man advised him to travi>l only at 
night. 

1 The account of the woman who married a star as the result of a wish occurs in the mythol- 
ogy of many tril)es. its general distribution haying been stated in the traditions of the Arapaho 
(Dorsey and Kroeber, op. cit.. ii. .338). This yersion agrees fairly well witli the Dakota 
rendering recorded by Riggs, op. cit., p. 83. 



62 Anthropological Papers Anwrican Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

Now Scar-Face went on towards the place where the Sun lived. Pres- 
ently he saw a young man standing alone. The young man called to Scar- 
Face, "Where are you going?" "I am going to the Sun," said Scar-Face. 
"Oh!" said the young man. "Sun is my father, this is his house." (This 
young man was Morning Star.) "My father is not a goofl ^ man. He is 
not at home now, but when he comes in the morning he will surely kill you. 
However, I will talk with my mother, who is a good woman and will treat 
you kindly." Then Morning Star took Scar-Face up to his father's lodge, 
and addressed his mother, saying "JNIother, I have brought a strange young 
man here. I wish him for a companion. He has come a long way to find 
us, and I wish you would take pity on him, that I may enjoy his company."" 
"Well," said his mother, "bring him in. We will talk to your father when 
he returns; but I fear we shall not be able to keep the young man." 

When Scar-Face was taken into the lodge, he saw on the ground a kind 
of earthen square, some cedar-brush, and buffalo-chips. This was the 
Sun's smudge-place. After a time the old woman, who was Moon, said to 
Scar-Face, "Is there anything that you especially care for?" "Yes," 
answered Scar-Face, "I want this scar taken from my face." "Well," 
replied Moon, "it is about time for my husband to come in. If he take 
pity on you — Avell, we shall see." In a little while Moon said, "Now he is- 
coming." Then she took Scar-Face to one side of the lodge and covered 
him up with cedar. Now Scar-Face began to feel very warm, because Sun 
was approaching. He began to shift about under the cedar, but Moon 
whispered that he must be quiet. So he lay very still, but became very hot 
as Sun came up. Finally INIoon said to Scar-Face, "Now Sun is at the door." 
Sun looked into the lodge and said, "Oh, my, this lodge smells bad!" 
"Yes," Moon re})lied. "Morning Star has a chum here." "Well," said 
Sun, "make a smudge Avith cedar." 

After this had been done. Sun entercHl the lodge. Now Scar-Face was 
very hot. Finally Sun said, "Where is that young man?" "We covered 
him up," said ]Moon. "Come," said Sun, "get up." Then Scar-Face 
came out from under the cedar. He could not look Sun in the face. As 
Sun looked upon him, he knew that this was a poor unfortunate" boy, and 
took pity on him. Th(^ heat then grew gradually less. 

Now it seems that Morning Star was out on one of his journeys, and Sun 
waited for his return. When Morning Star came into the lodge and sat 
down in his usual place. Sun addressed him, saying, "INIy son, do you wish 
this young man for a companion?" Then INIorning Star said that ]\v did 
very much, as he wished for a companion to go about with him. He was 



1 The idea is, that lie was linu. and not moved by pity or sympathy. 



190S.] Wisslcr ami Duvail, Bluckjoot Mijthohj)]. 63 

lonesome on his journeys. "Well," said Sun, "you must make a sweat- 
house." Then Morning; Star went out and prepared a sweat-house. When 
all was ready, Sun went out. He had a disk of metal at the back of his 
head. This disk looked like brass. Then Sun went into the sweat-house 
and began to wijie off the metal disk. Then he brought ^Morning Star and 
Scar-Face into the sweat-house. W'hen they were in, the covers were closed 
down. At last, when all was ready, the covers were raised and the light let 
in. The two boys now looked alike. 

Now, Moon came out, and Sun said to her, "Which is Morning Star?" 
Moon looked at them for a moment, then j^ointed at one; but she made a 
mistake, for she pointed at Scar-Face. "Oh!" said Sun "you are a foolish 
woman! This is the star you mistook for ^Morning Star. After this, his 
name shall be The-one-you-took-for-j\Iorning Star." 

Xow Scar-Face staid with his new companion at Sun's house. Sun told 
him that he could go anwhere in the sky-land except straight west or 
straight down: he could go in any other direction. One morning, when 
Morning Star and Scar-Face were out together, Scar-Face said, "Let us 
go that way," pointing to the west. "No," replied Morning Star. "It is 
dangerous. My father said we must not go there." "Oh," said Scar-Face, 
"let us go anyway." INIorning Star refused, but at the fourth request he 
said, "All right, let us go." So the two boys went in the forbidden direction, 
and presently they came to a place where there were seven large white 
geese. At once the birds attacked them. ^Morning Star ran, calling out, 
"Xow you see." Scar-Face did not run, but killed the seven geese with 
his club, and ran home. Before he reached home, he overtook INIorning 
Star, and said to him, "There is no danger now. I killed all of these birds." 

When they reached home. Morning Star told his mother what Scar-Face 
had done, but she said to Scar-Face, "I will not believe you until you get 
their heads." So the boys returned and took the heads of the seven birds. 
(This is supposed to be the origin of scalping, and no one will believ that 
an enemy is killed until his scalp is produced.) 

Some time after this, Scar-Face and Morning Star went out together as 
before, and Scar-Face said, "Let us go that way again." "No," said Morn- 
ing Star. "It will be more dangerous than Ix'fore." Scar-Face insisted, and 
at the fourth request, ^Morning Star consented. As they were going along, 
they saw seven cranes. AVhen the cranes saw the boys, they took after them. 
INIorning Star ran as fast as he could. These cranes were terrible looking 
birds, and Scar-Face was badly frightened; but he took olf his robe and 
held it in front of him. As the cranes came up, they began to ])eck at the 
robe, whereupon Scar-Face struck them one l)v one with his club. 

Xow when Scar-Face reac-hed home, Sun was there and asked w here he 



64 Anthropological Papers American Musenii} of Natural History. [\o\. II, 

liad been. Scar-Face said that he M'as walking- alono; when some large 
cranes took alter him, and that he had killed them all with his club. "Oh!" 
said Sun, "I will not believe it until you have shown me their heads." So 
Scar-Face returned to the scene of his conflict, and brought away the heads 
of the cranes. When Sun saw the heads, he believed him. Sun was greatly 
pleased at the courage of Scar-Face, and brought out a bundle. "Here," 
said he, "are some clothes for you, — a shirt and leggings. These I give 
you because you have killed some very dangerous and troublesome birds." 
Then Sun took uj) the leggings, and painted seven black stripes on them, 
saying, " I make these here as a sign that you killed enemies. All your people 
shall wear black stripes on their leggings when they kill enemies." Then 
Sun sang some songs which were to go with the clothes. 

After a time, Scar-Face said to Sun, "Xow I should like to return to my 
people. I have been here long enough." "All right," said Sun. "You 
may go." llien Sun took Scar-Face out, put a hoop or ring of cedar aroimd 
his head, and, as soon as the hoop was on, Scar-Face found that he could 
see down to his people. "Xow," said Sun, "shut your eyes." Scar-Face 
shut his eyes. "When he opened them, he found himself down by the camp 
of his people. Now in the camp at that time there were some Indians who 
were playing at the wheel-and-arrow game; and one of the players, looking 
up, saw a black object coming down from the sky. He called out, "Oh, 
look at that black thing!" Then all stopped to look. They saw the object 
coming closer and closer. At last it reached the ground, some distance 
from them. It appeared to be a person. Then the old chum of Scar-Face, 
who was among the young men playing at the wheel-game, recognized 
Scar-Face, and rushed up to him; but, as he approached, Scar-Face said, 
"Go back! Go back! Do not touch me. You must get some willows, 
and make a sweat-house out here from the camp." 

Then the chum went back to the peoj^le of the camp and explainetl to 
them. A sweat-house was ju-epared. When all was ready, Scar-Face went 
into the sweat-house with the bimdle containing the suit of clothes given 
him by the Sun. When the bath had been taken, Scar-Face came out, 
carrying the bundle in his arm. He said to his chum, "^ly friend Sun gave 
me a suit of clothes: now 1 will give them to you." ' 

Now this is why our people say that the sweat-house came from the sun. 

1 A (lifferent version is jriven I)y Grinnell, op. cit., p. 93. The writer heard this story a 
number of times in ai)proxiinately tlie form Riven abo\e. For an altstract with comments liy 
11. N. Wilson, see Report of the British Association for tlie Advancement of Science, 1897, p. 
789. This tale has not come to our notice anions tlie collections from other tribes, tliou^h there 
•are suggestions of it in Arikara and Pawnee ren<ierini;s of the Woman who married a Star 
(Dorsey, op. cit., p. 4.5, 58) wiiere we tind the child destroying animal monsters. However, 
these incidents are about ecpially similar to the adventiues of Hlood Clot in our collection. 
Tlie iMicmac character. Oochigeaskw, seems to have nothing in common witli the Scar-Face 
of the Blackfoot. See lluiid, Micniac Legends, p. 101. 



1908.] Wissler and DuvaU, Black/out Mythologi/. 65 

The medicine-lodge we make at the sun-dance is the lodge of the sun where 
Scar-Face had been. The weasel-tail suit which Scar-Face brought to his 
chum was just like those you see to-day. There was a disk on the back and 
one on the front. There were seven black stripes on the sleeves. These 
were for one group of seven birds that Scar-Face hatl killed. Sometimes 
the feet of these birds are painted on the shirt. The seven bands on the 
leggings are for the seven other birds that Scar-Face killed. Scar-Face 
directed that only such persons as performed great deeds v.ere to be allowed 
to wear such a suit. After a time Scar-Face went back and became a star. 



(b). Version by a Piegan Woman. 

There was once a poor young man who wished to marry a girl of the 
camp; but every time he approached her she drove him away with contempt. 
So he left the camp and went out by himself, looking' for power. He had a 
scar on his face, and when the girl refused him she said that she would not 
marry him until the sear was taken off his face. Now, as the young man was 
Avandering about, he came to the place where the Sun lived. Here he saw 
some swans, who at once attacked him, but he killed them. This boy's 
name was Scar-Face. Just as he had killed the birds, he looked up and saw 
a fine young man. "Oh I" said the young man, "how did you manage to 
kill those birds ? They are very dangerous, and have killed many people." 
"Oh," said Scar-Face, "it was no trouble forme: it was very easy." "Well," 
said the stranger, "I am Morning Star. I invite you to come to our hou.se." 

Then Scar-Face went with ]Morning Star towards Sun's house; but, as 
they approached, ^Morning Star said, "You stay outside." Then Morning 
Star went into the house, and, as he did so, Sun said, "My, something smells 
bad!" Then Morning Star explained that he had found and brought home 
a young man who had killed the dangerous birds. He begged Sun to per- 
mit the stranger to live with them. Finally Sun consented to this, and told 
INIorning Star to burn incense over Scar-Face and make him tolerable. 
When INIorning Star had done this, he brought Scar-Face into the lodge. 
Then Sun took Scar-Face and put him through the sweat-house four times. 
When he came out, Scar-Face looked exactly like Morning Star. His 
scar was entirely gone. 

"Now," said Sun to Scar-Face, "you are to go back to earth and take 
revenge on that woman who refused to marry you. I will make you a great 
medicine-man." So Sun gave Scar-Face a forked stick, and cedar for the 
smudge, and some feathers, and explained to him how to put up the medi- 
cine-lodge. Sun also told him to go to the Elk- Woman and get her bonnet 



66 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. II, 

to use in the ceremony. The kiUing of the swans represents the taking of 
scalps from enemies, and that is why coups are counted at the sun-dance.^ 

5. Cuts-Wood. 

Once there was a very jjoor l)oy who was an orphan, and he went down 
to the side of a stream, where he sat and cried. He was very lonesome, 
and mourned over his hard lot. As his sister was now married, he had no 
relations in the world. Now Alorning Star took pity upon him, and, chang- 
ing himself into a boy, came down. Morning Star came up, and said, 
"^Miat are you crying for?" The poor boy said, "I am feeling very badly 
because I have no relatives. I am poor and hungry." "Well," said Morn- 
ing Star, "I will show you a way to get food. Finally you will become the 
leader of the camp. I will get another boy, then there will be three of us to 
play together." 

Morning Star went away, and soon returned with another poor boy. 
Then all went into the brush, where they began to play. Morning Star 
made a little sweat-house of one hundred willows. Then he made a medi- 
cine-woman's lodge. Then he went to the other side, and made a small 
sim-lodge. When this was complete, he dug a hole for the fire, and made 
the booth for the weather-dancers. Then, all being complete, they sang 
the medicine-lodge dance-songs. Then they went out to kill some birds 
and squirrels, and put them on top of the centre pole as offerings to the sun. 
Now the two poor boys did not know that their companion was the Morning 
Star. After they had played a while, he said, "I will go home and get some 
food for you." So he went into the brush, and came out with food. After 
this they played here every day, and the strange boy brought food for them. 
They did not know who it was. The boys learned the play, and spent 
most of their time at it. 

One day, as the brother-in-law of the oqjhan was sitting in his lodge, 
he said to his wife, "I wonder how it is with that little brother of yoin-s. 
We never see him eat anjthing, and he is out from the camj) the whole day. 
We must watch him. There is something mysterious here." So the next 
day the brother-in-law went to the top of a hill ovei-looking the camp to 
watch the orphan. He noticed that he had a companion, and that they 



1 Aiiotlier narrative in our collection differs from the preceding versions in that Scar-Face 
went out and killed two cranes, after which the Sun gave him a buffalo-skin with hair fringes to 
indicate that he hud killed an enemy. He also took the cranes' bills back with him to use in the 
sun-lodge as digging-sticks. It also stated that the Sun gave Scar-Face a flageolet with four 
holes, with which to charm the girl he wished to marry, telling him, that when this was played 
she would not be able to resist the temptation to join him. 

For a discussion of a similar use of the flageolet with origin myths, see Wissler, Journal of 
American Folk- Lore, Vol. 18, pp. 262-4; also an Arikara myth, Dorsey, op. cit., p. 188. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvoll, Blackfoot Mjithology. (57 

went into the brush at a certain })laee. Thenhe stole quietly to {\w })laee 
and saw that there were three boys. He heard them singing, and saw the 
small medicine-lodge. Then he went quietly home and meditated. After 
a Avhile he invited some of the head men into his lodge, told them what he 
had seen, and suggested that they all go out at night to look at the place 
where the boys played. They all saw it, and wondereil much. However, 
they said nothing about it, for it appeared to be medicine. 

One day after the orj)han-boy had grown up, his sister and his uncle 
advised him to make up that play; but the young man said, "It is powerful 
and medicine. I cannot make up a big one." They kept on talking to him, 
however, until he said, "Well, I will make it up; but my sister must be the 
woman to take a place in it, and she must make a confession." Then his 
sister asked him what kind of a confession she must make. He explained 
that in the first place she must have led a good life, not guilty of stealing, etc., 
and that if any man not her husband had accosted her to invite her to commit 
adultery with him, she must tell all of the details in the presence of the 
people; but if at any time she had been so accosted, and j-ielded to the 
temptation, she could neither make the confession, nor take part in the 
ceremony. His sister said that she had never made a mistake or done any 
great wrong in her life, and that she could make the confession. Then the 
orphan-boy promised her that she could go ahead and give the medicine- 
lodge, after which everybody would live long and be hapj>y. Also the sun 
and moon would heed her prayers. 

Now at this time the Indians of the camp had a bufl'alo-drive, and col- 
lected a hundred and fifty tongues. The orphan recpiested an old woman 
to get these tongues, and invite all the young married women to come to her 
lodge, but that only those should accept the in\-itation who had been true 
to their marriage- vows. When all these women were assembled, the orphan 
told them that they must confess, and that if they kept anything back their 
relations would die off. He told them that they had been invited there to 
slice all the buffalo-tongues, and that if, in slicing them, any one should 
cut a hole in a slice, or cut her fingers, it was a sign that she had made a 
mistake in her life, and had lied in making the confession. Then he painted 
one tongue black, and gave it to his sister. She sliced it. She did not cut 
it or her fingers. Then the other women sliced the remaining tongues and 
everyone had good luck. After this they put up the centre pole in the sun- 
lodge and did everything as they do now. After the sim-ilance was over, 
the orphan went on the war-])ath. Now the next season, another woman 
in the camp wanted to make the medicine-lodge. So she got the tongues 
and did ever^'thing as before; and after the sun-dance was over, the orphan 
went on the war-path again. Every time he went on the war-path, he 



68 Anthropological Papers American Musemn of Natural History. ['S'ol. II, 

cut a stick and painted it black. He left these with his sister, asking 
her to watch these counting-sticks. (This is the way he got the name of 
Cuts-Wood.) 

One time after the sun-dance, while Cuts-Wood was out on the war-path, 
his sister noticed that one of the sticks was missing. Then she knew that 
something was wrong. So she went over to the lodge of the woman who 
gave the last sun-dance and said to her, "You must be a bad woman, because 
one of the sticks is gone." The sister laid the blame on this woman. After 
a while a war-party came to the top of the hill. The people watching saw 
them throw a robe away. Then the sister began to cry, and when the 
war-party came in, the people heard that Cuts- Wood had been killed. 

G. The Seven Stars. 

Once there Avas a young woman with many suitors; but she refused to 
marry. She had seven brothers and one little sister. Their mother had 
been dead many years and they had no relatives, but lived alone with their 
father. Every day the six brothers went out hunting with their father. It 
seems that the yovmg woman had a bear for her lover, and, as she did not 
want any one to know this, she would meet him when she went out after 
wood. She always went after wood as soon as her father and brothers ^^ent 
out to hunt, leaving her little sister alone in the lodge. As soon as she was 
out of sight in the brush, she would run to the place where the bear lived. 

As the little sister grew older, she began to be curious as to why her 
older sister spent so much time getting wood. So one day she followed her. 
She saw the young woman meet the bear and saw that they were lovers. 
When she found this out, she ran home as quickly as she could, and when 
her father returned she tokl him what she had seen. When he heard the 
story he said, "So, my elder daughter has a bear for a husband. Xow I 
know why she does not want to marry." Then he went about the camp, 
telling all his people that they had a bear for a brother-in-law, and that he 
wished all the men to go out with him to kill this bear. So they went, found 
the bear, and killed him. 

When the young woman found out Avhat hail been done, and that her 
little sister had told on her, she was very angry. She scolded her little sister 
vigorously, then ordered her to go out to the dead bear, and bring some 
flesh from his ])aws. The little sister began to cry, aiul saitl the was afraid 
to go out of the lodge, because a dog with young pups had tried to bite her. 
"Oh, do not be afraid!" said the young woman. "1 Avill j)aiut your face 
like that of a bear, with black marks across the eyes and at the corners of 
the mouth; then no one will touch you." So she went for the meat. Now 



190S.] Wisskr and Duvall, Bluckj'oui Mijtholoyy. 09 

the older sister was a powerful medicine- woman. She could tan hides in a 
new way. She could take uj) a hide, strike it four times with her skin- 
scraper and it would be tanned. 

The little sister had a younger brother that she carried on her back. 
As their mother was dead, she took care of him. One day the little sister 
said to the older sister, "Xow you be a bear and we will go out into the 
brush to play." The older sister agreed to this, but said, "Little sister, 
you must not touch me over my kidneys." So the big sister acted as a 
bear, and they played in the brush. While they were playing, the little 
sister forgot what she had been told, and touched her older sister in the 
wrong place. At once she turned into a real bear, ran into the camp, and 
killed many of the people. After she had killed a large niunber, she turned 
back into her former self. Xow, when the little sister saw the older run 
away as a real bear, she became frightened, took up her little brother, and 
ran into their lodge. Here they waited, badly frightened, but were very 
glad to see their older sister return after a time as her true self. 

X'ow the older brothers were out hunting, as usual. As the little sister 
was going down for water with her little brother on her back, she met her 
six brothers returning. The brothers noted how quiet and deserted the 
camp seemed to be. So they said to their little sister, "Where are all our 
people?" Then the little sister explained how she and her sister Avere 
playing, when the elder turned into a bear, ran through the camp, and 
killed many people. She told her brothers that they were in great danger, 
as their sister would surely kill them when they came home. So the six 
brothers decided to go into the brush. One of them had killed a jack-rabbit. 
He said to the little sister, "You take this rabbit home with you. When it 
is dark, we will scatter prickly-]:)ears all around the lodge, except in one place. 
When you come out, you must look for that place, and pass through." 

When the little sister came back to the lodge, the elder sister said, " Wiiere 
have you been all this time?" "Oh, my little brother miissed himself and 
I had to clean him," replied the little sister. "W'here did you get that 
rabbit?" she asked. "I killed it with a sharp stick," said the little sister. 
"That is a lie. Let me see you do it," said the older sister. Then the 
little sister took up a stick lying near her, threw it at the rabbit, and it stuck 
in the wound in his body. "Well, all right," said the elder sister. Then 
the little sister dressed the rabbit and cooked it. She offered some of it to 
her older sister, but it was refused: so the little sister and her brother ate 
all of it. When the elder sister saw that the rabbit had all been eaten, she 
became very angry, and said, "Xow I have a mind to kill you." So the 
little sister arose cjuickly, took her little brother on her back, and said, "I 
am going out to look for wood." As she went out, she followed the narrow 



70 Anthroj)ological Papers American Museum of Xatural Hisionj. [Vol. II, 

trail thi'ough the prickly-pears and met her six brothers in the brush. Then 
they decided to leave the country, and started oft" as fast as they could go. 

The older sister, being a powerful medicine-woman, knew at once what 
they were doing. She became very angry and turned herself into a bear 
to pursue them. Soon she was about to overtake them, when one of the 
boys tried his power. He took a little water in the hollow of his hand and 
sprinkled it around. At once it became a great lake between them and the 
bear. Then the children hurried on while the bear went around. After 
a, while the bear caught up with them again, when another brother thre^\• a 
porcupine-tail [a hairbrush] on the ground. This became a great thicket; 
but the bear forced its way through, and again overtook the children.^ 
This time they all climbed a high tree. The bear came to the foot of the 
tree, and, looking up at them, said, "Now I shall kill you all." So she 
took a stick from the ground, threw it into the tree and knocked down four 
of the brothers. While she was doing this, a little bird flew around the 
tree, calling out to the children, "Shoot her in the head! Shoot her in the 
head!" Then one of the boys shot an arrow into the head of the bear, and 
at once she fell dead. Then they came down from the tree. 

Now the four brothers were dead. The little brother took an arrow, 
shot it straight up into the air, and when it fell one of the dead brothers came 
to life. This he repeated imtil all were alive again. Then they held a 
council, and said to each other, "Where shall we go? Our people have all 
been killed, and we are a long way from home. AVe have no relatives living 
in the world." Finally they decided that they preferred to live in the sky. 
Then the little brother said, "Shut your eyes." As they did so, they all 
went up. Now you can see them every night. The little brother is the 
North Star ( ?). The six brothers and the little sister are seen in the Great 
Dipper. The little sister and the eldest brother are in a line with the North 
Star, the little sister being nearest it because she used to carry her little 
brother on her back. The other brothers are arranged in order of their 
age, beginning with the eldest. This is how the seven stars [Ursa major] 
came to be.- 



1 Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee, p. 115. 

2 For another version of this narrative, see The American Antiquarian, Vol. XV, pji. 200- 
203. In tliis case tlie incident of tiie bear-lover does not occur. The writer has heard several 
versions, and tliat given here is tlie usual form though in some renderings the seven Ijrotliers 
became Ursa major. For similar tales in whole or in part, see Dorsey anci Kroeber's Arapalio, 
op. cit., pp. 1.52, 227, and 23S: Sinnns, Crow, op. cit., p. 312; J. O. Dorsey, Cegiha, op. cit., p. 292; 
Jones, Fox Texts, p. 161; Kroehcr, Gros Ventre, op. cit. p. lOS. It appears that the lilack- 
foot rendering' combines two incidents often found sejiarated in other parts of the continent, 
the woman with a bear-lover and the pursuit of children who become stars though both occur 
n a Dakota myth, (Jomnal of American Folk-Lore, Vol. XX, p. 195). 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mythology. 71 

7. The Bunched Stars. 

In a camp of our people there was a family of six boys. Their parents 
were very poor. Every spring the people went out to hunt for buffalo. At 
this time of the year, the buffalo-calves are red, and their skins are much 
desired for children's robes. Now as the parents of these children were very 
poor, and not able to do much hunting, these boys had to wear brown robes 
or those made of old buffalo-skins. As the children grew up, they were 
constantly reminded of the fact that they had no red robes. The other 
children of the camp sometimes made fun of them because of this. So one 
day one of the boys said to his brothers, "Why is it that we never get any red 
robes ? If we do not get any next spring, let us leave the camp and go up 
into the sky." Then the boys went out to a lonely place to talk the matter 
over. Finally they agreed that, if they did not get red robes in the following 
spring, they would go up to the sky country. The spring hunting-season 
passed, but no red robes came to the boys. Then the oldest brother said, 
''Now I shall take you all up to the sky." The fourth brother said, "Let us 
also take all the water away from the people, because they have been bad 
to us." 

Then the oldest brother took some weasel-hair and jilaced a little on 
the backs of his brothers. Then he took another bunch of hair, put it first 
into his mouth, then rubbed it on his palm. "Now shut your eyes," he said. 
Then he blew the weasel-hair up, and, when the brothers opened their eyes, 
they found themselves in the house of the Sun and iSIoon. The Sun, who 
was an old man, and the Moon, who was his wife, said, "Why have you 
come?" "We left the earth," said the oldest brother, " because the people 
never gave us red robes. All the other children had red robes to wear, 
but we had only brown ones. So we have come to you for help." "Well." 
said the Sun, "what do you want ?" The fourth brother said, "We should 
like to have all of the water taken away from the peo])le for seven days." 
Now the Sun made no answer to this; but the ]Moon took pity on the poor 
boys and said, "I will help you; but you must stay in the sky." The ISIoon 
pitied the boys so much that she cried. She asked the Sun to aid her in 
taking away the Avater from the people; but the Sun made no answer. She 
asked him seven times. At last he promised to aid her. 

Now the next day on the earth was very hot. 1'he water in the streams 
and lakes boiled, and in a short time it all evaporated. The next night was 
very warm and the moonlight strong. When the water was gone, the ])eople 
in the camp said, "Let us take two dogs with us out to the ri\er-bed." 
When they came to the bank of the river, the two dogs began to dig a hole in 
the side of the bank. When thev had dug a long tiuie. water came out of the 



72 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II , 

hole like a spring. This is the way springs were made. Even to this day, 
all the people have great respect for their dogs because of this. The days 
were so hot that the people were forced to dig holes into the hills and crawl 
into them. They would have died, if they had remained on top of the 
ground. When the water in the springs gave out, the dogs made other 
springs. Now the leader of the dogs was a medicine-dog. He was old 
and white. On the seventh day, the dogs began to howl and look at the 
sky. The leader of the dogs was praying to the Sun and the Moon. He 
explained to the Sun and Moon why it was that the boys got no red robes. 
He asked them to take pity on the dogs below. (This is why dogs some- 
times howl at the moon.) On the eighth day the Sun and Moon gave the 
people rain. It was a great rain, and it rained for a long time. 

The six boys remained in the sky, where they may be seen every night. 
They are the Bunched Stars [Pleiades].^ 

8. The Moon-Wo]\l\n.- 

Once there was a woman with two children. She had a black l:)irth- 
mark on the calf of her leg. One day the woman disappeared, and she 
could not be found an\^vhere. After a time, her husband married again. 
Now the woman had been enticed away by a man wlio lived in the moon. 
This man had met her as she was going for wood. After they had lived in 
the moon a while, the woman said to her new husband, "I am anxioiis to 
see my children again. Suppose we go down and visit them." So the 
woman disguised herself in men's clothing and they both went to her former 
husband's lodge. 1 hey told him that they were Cree Indians, but that they 
could speak Piegan. The father and the two children took the strange 
men into the lodge and treated them kindly. I'he smaller of the two 
strangers seemed much interested in the children, kissed them, played with 
them, etc. The father of the children took notice of this and grew suspicious. 
At night, when it came time to go to befl, he also noticed that one was very 
slow and cautious in taking off his leggings. The next day, when both of 
the strangers were out of the lodge, one of the chiklren said, "Father, that 
young man has teeth and eyes like those of my mother. Somehow he makes 
me think of mother." The father said to himself, "I believe that stranger 
is my former wife in disguise. I shall watch my chance and find out if this 
is true." 



1 See American Antiqviarian, \o\. XV. p. 149, for another version. 

2 While tliis is not strictly a star myth, it may be considered as such since it is sometimes 
said that the Inisband of tlie woman was a star. " In some versions the woman went up into 
the sliy and became the moon. 



190S.] Wisslcr ami Dtimll, Blackfoot Mijthologij. 73 

The father now set about iHscovering the identity of the sti-angers. He 
began to make arrows for himseh", and gave some of the material to each of 
the strangers." As he did so, the taller stranger said, "My friend is not 
good at making arrows." But the father insisted that they all make arrows, 
which they did. He noticed that the arrows made by the smaller stranger 
were very poor indeed. This stranger also kept an otter-skin drawn closely 
over his forehead, and in eating kept his mouth closed as much as possible. 
The next night the father kept the strangers up very late, teUing them stories 
so that they might get very sleepy, and sleep so soundly that he could look 
at their legs without waking them, and so discover whether or not one of 
them had the black birth-mark of his former wife. "When they were all 
sound asleep, he took a stick, put some grass and bark around the end, 
stuck it into the fire, and, using it as a torch, cautiously raised the robe 
covering the smaller stranger, and discovered the familiar mark on the leg. 
He also saAv that her breasts were bound down to make her look like a man. 
Then he put out the light, for he knew that the stranger was really his 
former wife. 

^Vhen morning came he invited the strangers to get up and eat; but 
before doing so he directed his children and their stepmother to go outside 
of the lodge. When the strangers arose, he stood at the door with a white 
rock knife in his hand, and informed them of his discovery. He addressetl 
his former wife, upbraiding her for her conduct, and her impertinence in 
returning to his lodge in disguise. "Xow," he said, "T shall kill you both; 
for you cannot get out except through the top of the lodge." 'Jhen the 
woman began to plead for her life, but to no purpose. Just as the angry 
husband was about to execute this threat, the strange man, with the woman 
following, rushed out through the smoke-hole like shooting-stars. As they 
passed out, the man threw his rock knife at the woman, striking one of her 
legs and cutting it oft'.' 

The woman and her new husband went up in the sky to live in the moon 
as before, and this is why the woman we now see in the moon has but one leg. 

1 See Henry and Thompson's Journal, op. tit., p. 528. 



74 Anthropological Papers America?! Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 



III. RITUALISTIC ORIGINS. 

1. The Beaver-Medicine. 

(«). Xorthern Black foot Version. 

There was a man who always went out hunting for deer and antelope. 
He w^as camping near a big lake fringed with bushes. He had two wives. 
One day the older took a pail to fetch water. She saw a young man, Beaver, 
who invited her to his tent. She went. When the man returned, he asked 
his younger wife for the older one's whereabouts. 'T don't know. She 
went to the lake for water. When I looked for her, I could not see her trail, 
but only saw the pail." The man was sad, thinking his wife had gone to 
another camp. He went to another camp, but failed to find her, and 
returned. Then, after a night's sleep, he went to hunt early in the morning. 
The younger woman went for water. She saw the older wife rising from the 
water. The women kissed each other. The older said, "If. my husband 
wishes, I will obtain for him the beaver-bundle which Beaver will give him 
for taking me away. He must burn sweet grass. All the creatures in the 
water will come to his tent. He is to prepare a feast for them. Then he 
is to pray to the Sun, Moon, and Morning- Star, begging them to come to 
him also." The man did as he was bid. The Sun and Moon came down 
iind sat in this order: — 

Sun I\Ian INIoon Woman 

Then the Sun burnt sweet-grass, and sang. He said to the man, "Give 
me some eagle-tail feathers." These were in payment for the first ritual 
song. Then the Sun sang again and asked the man for hawk-tail feathers. 
The third time he sang for black-fox hides. The fourth time he said, 
^'Old man wants black-coyote skins." The man's second wife fed the ^^si- 
tors. Then they untied the beaver-bundle. Sun took paint, rubbed it on his 
hands, gave it to the man, and the man prayed to Sun for long life. The 
Sun sang all night, giving the songs to the man. Before sunrise, he left to 
rise in the cast. After four nights' singing, the beaver-bundle was given to 
the man. The Sun said, "Your people shall always have the beaver-bundle. 
Every spring, when the leaves are coming out, you shall put seed [tobacco] 
in the ground, and dance. Make a vessel of buft'alo-hide. At sunset go 
into a large tent and feed all the Indians. You, the owner of the beaver- 
bundle, and the old men shall dance [tobacco-seed dance]." 

After the feast the man was told to take a stick, dig a hole in the ground 
and insert the seed, to make the oblong [altar], put diy sticks in the centre 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mijthologij. 75 

and burn them. The next morning he was to rake the ashes, and have 
the Uttle boys stand there and pray to the Sun and the beaver-bundle man to 
let the tobacco-seeds grow. After a month and a half, he was to send a 
young man with sweet-grass to look at the tobacco: the youth must burn the 
sweet-grass in each corner of the oblong, take out some tobacco and return 
it to the owner of the bundle. No one was allowed to look before. The 
next morning all the old men were summoned, the tobacco was dried and 
mixed with kinnikinnick. All prayed, then smoked. Each old man was 
to have his own tobacco. The bimdle-owner examined the seeds, saying, 
"You have a good crop" or "you have only a small crop." The man who 
had the smallest grieved.^ 

(b). Blood Version. 

You say you have heard the story of Scabby-Round-Robe; but he did 
not first start the beaver-medicine, because it is said in the story that there 
was such a medicine before his time. The story I now tell you is about the 
origin of the beaver-medicine. 

Once there was a man and his wife camping alone on the shore of a 
small lake. This man was a great hunter, and had in his lodge the skins of 
almost every kind of bird and animal. Among them was the skin of a white 
buffalo. As he was always hunting, his wife was often left alone. One 
day a Beaver came out of the water and made love to her. This went on 
for some time, until finally she went away with the Beaver to his home 
m the water. Now when the man came home, he looked all about for his 
wife, but could not find her anywhere. As he was walking along the shore 
of the lake, he saw her trail going down into the water. Now he knew what 
had happened. He did not break camp, but continued his hunting. After 
four days, the woman came up out of the water and returned to her lodge. 
She was already heavy with child. When her husband returned that 
evening, he found her in her usual place and she told him all that had 
occurred. 

In the course of time the woman gave birth to a beaver. To keep it 
from dying, she put it in a bowl of water which she kept at the head of her 
hed. In the evening her husband came in as usual, and after a while, hear- 
ing something splashing in water, he said, "What is that?" Then the 
woman explained to him that she had given birth to a beaver. She brought 
him the bowl. He took out the little beaver, looked at it and put it back. 
He said nothing. As time went on he became very fond of the young 
beaver and played with him every evening. 



1 Recorded by Dr. R. H. Lowie. 



76 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

Now the Beaver down in the water knew evervthuig that was going on 
in the lodge. He knew that the man was kind to the young beaver and so 
was not angry with him. He took pity on the man. Then the father of 
the young beaver resolved to give the man some of his medicine-songs in 
exchange for the skins of birds and animals the man had in his lodge. So 
one day, when the woman went down to the lake for water, the Beaver came 
out and instructed her to request of her husband, that whatever he [the 
Beaver] should ask in his songs, that should be done. He also stated 
the time at which he would come to the lodge to be received by her husband. 

i\t the appointed time the Beaver came out of the lake and appeared 
before the lodge, but, before he entered, requested that the lodge be purified 
[a smudge]. Then he entered. They smoked. After a while the Beaver 
beo-an to sing a song in which he asked for the skin of a certain bird. When 
he had finished, the man arose and gave the bird-skin to him. Then the 
Beaver sang another song, in which he asked for the skin of another bird, 
which was given him. Thus he went on until he secured all the skins in the 
man's lodge. In this way the man learned all the songs that belonged to 
the beaver-medicine and also the skins of the animals to ^\hich the songs 
belonged. 

After this the man got together all the different kinds of bird and animal 
skins taken by the Beaver, made them up into a bundle, and kept the 
beaver-medicine. 

{(•). yortii Pirgan IVr.s'/o/?. 

It was about a hundred years ago a man i)itched his camp away from 
the other people. He was somewhere in the vicinity of St. Mary's Lake. 
Now the man and his wife went out in diffenMit ways. They separated. 
As the woman was going along, she came to the place Avhere Beavers were 
at work. The Beavers came out and invited her down to their lodge. When 
the man came home that night, he missetl his wife and set out to find her. 
At last he discovered her tracks leading down into the water at the place 
where the Bea\crs were at work. Now he watched every day for her to 
appear. Every night when he was in the lodge he could hear dancing and 
singing. He could only hear it when inside of the lodge, but whenever he 
went outside he ceased to lu>ar it. One evening when he came back from 
hunting, he found his wife at home in the lodge. She was burning incense. 
She had cleared a small spot back of the fire for this }mr])ose. The man 
saw a large bundle at tiie back of the lodge, and as he looked at it the woman 
said, "That Avas given by the Beavers." 

Now that night, when the man was slee])ing, he dreamed about the 
Beavers. In his dream he saw the Beavers come into his lodge, and one of 



1908.] Wisslcr and Duvall, BlackJ'uot Mtjtholoyy. 77 

the Beavers addressed him, saying, "Xow, my brother, you have the bundle 
and the medicine things; so you must k^arn the songs and how to paint." 
Then the Beavers taught him the songs, how to oj)i'n the bundle,^ how to 
paint, etc. All the directions for the ceremony were given by the Beavers 
at this time. This was just as you will see it now, because we are about to 
open this bundle. 

There was also another dream about this medicine. In this dream 
it was explained that the only women who can take part in the medicine- 
lodge are those who have been true to their husbands. In this dream a 
head-dress was given for the woman who makes a vow to gi\'e the sun-dance. 
This was dreamed by the same man who received the medicine-bundle 
from the Beaver. x\fterwards he had another dream, in which the elk gave 
him a robe. This robe was to be used by the woman who gave the sun- 
dance. Now, after this man had the dream about the elk, he took the robe 
and gave it to his wife, beause she now had the head-dress that is worn in the 
sun-dance. She took the robe and wrapjx'd it aror.nd the bundle in which 
the head-dress was kept. 

Tobacco is kept in the beaver-medicine bundle, and this tobacco must 
be planted every year. The woman who plants the tobacco puts on the 
head-dress and carries a tligging- stick. Songs are sung when the tobacco 
is planted. This is the way to raise the tobacco to be lised in the beaver- 
medicine. 

Now we must begin, and, if you watch, you will see vhat the beaver- 
medicine is. 

(d) Piegan J^ersion. 

Once an old woman and her little son were crossing the ^'ellowstone 
River when the Avaters were very high. They had made a raft with the 
skin covering of a lodge. The little boy was sitting on this raft and the 
old woman was swimming along at the side, holding by one hand. The raft 
itself was tied to the horse's tail by a rope. The husband of the woman 
was guiding the horse. The current was so swift that the ro])e broke and 
the raft began to float down stream. The man reac-hed the shore and 
climbed up on the bank, following the floating raft. At last the woman 
tried to climb upon the raft, but it filled and sank. Then the man went on 
to the other Indians, and told them that the woman and the boy had been 
drowned in crossing the stream. Two days after this, he came back to look 
for the bodies, but found th.' old woman and the boy sitting upon, the bank. 
They had been under water for two days. The old woman said tl.at when 



1 To open the bundle requires an elaborate ceremony. This narrative was given as a pre- 
lude to the opening of this ceremony. 



78 Anthropoloyical Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

they sank the Beaver pulled them into his lodge. When they got into the 
lodge, they were safe. When they looked around, they saw a great many 
other animals there. Then the Otter said, "Here is a woman. Let us kill 
her and eat her." But the Beaver said, "No, this is a poor woman and a 
boy that were drowning. I took pity on them and brought them here." 
"Well," said the Otter, "they are people; they deserve to die. Let us kill 
them." So they argued for a long time; but at last the Beaver prevailed 
over all the other animals, and thus saved the lives of the woman and her 
child. This shows that the Beaver had some sort of power, at least ])ower 
to save people. Then the Beaver told the woman that she would have great 
power, that she would live long, and that he would give her some songs. 
Now when this woman returned to her people, she started the Crow-water 
medicine. She is still living among the Crows and the first beaver-skin that 
came into her hands she kept for medicine. 

Now when the man came up and found the old woman and the boy on 
the bank, he was going to shake hands with her; but she told him not to- 
come near her, that first he must make four sweat-houses. When all was 
ready, the woman entered the first sweat-house. When she came out, 
they saw in it a great deal of sand and lake-grass. Each time the woman 
went through a sweat-house, they found sand and lake-grass in it. Thus 
the sweat-houses were to get the sand out of her body. 

2. Otter-Woman. 

It was in the north. Very far north, at a place called The-Place-to-fall- 
off-without-Difficulty. Some people were camped there. Among them was 
Chief-Level-Head, (other name, Buffalo-Lodge-Pole) who was trapping 
beaver. This man was a great hunter and trapper. He spent jnost of his 
time in this way. He had camped there before. His relatives wanted him 
to stay with them, but he would not; and, taking his wife, he went away 
and cani])e(l by himself. His wife was Otter-Woman. One day he went 
out to hunt, and, on reaching camp with his meat on two dog-travois, he 
called his wife to come out and get the meat. No one came. Then he 
called several times, but received no answer. Then he, himself, took off 
the meat, untied the dogs, and went to look for her. As he went along he 
said, "I wonder if anything could have happened to her. Did she go off 
with some young man ? Did she get scared and run away, or did she get 
lonesome 'and go back to the camp?" All this time he was tracking her 
along. At last he came to the place wiu're she got water, and there he found 
her robe. There also was the pail made of ])aunch, her wooden cu]), and 
bundle of wood. Now he knew what had ha])j)ene(l. He saw tracks going 



1908.] Wissler and Duvull, Blackj'oot Mijthologi/. 70 

down to the water. It was very deep. The man went into the water to 
follow the tracks, but lost them. He saw a beaver's house. It was a big 
house. Then he made a raft of four poles and followed up the tracks in 
clear water. He saw that these tracks led up to the beaver house. I'hen 
he knew for sure what had happened. Then he went home and cried. He 
made up his mind that the Beaver had run off with the woman; but he still 
cried and cried. He was there seven days, crying all the time. On the 
seventh day he thought to himself, "To-morrow I will go home"; but that 
night he cried as before. But a man came to him, saying, "I have been sent 
to you. You are to fix up a lodge, for your wife is coming to-morrow. 
You must not look out when she comes." He heard the man sing, "Our 
walking is powerful, the man says," etc. "INIy old home I am looking for 
it. It is powerful." (This means that the woman looked for her home.) 
Now while the woman was coming up, the strange man sang many such 
songs. These are the beaver-songs. When the woman came out of the 
lake, she wore a medicine-bonnet, and some head men [beavers] came out 
with her to help with the songs and to transfer the bundle. This party 
went into the lodge and transferred the bundle and the medicine-bonnet ta 
the woman and her husband. The tobacco-plant and everything else was 
given with it. It took seven days to transfer the medicine. 

Then the man and his wife went home, and the next summer he went out 
and planted his tobacco-seeds as the Beavers had directed. That year it 
grew well. Then he transferred the bundle to another man, and this man 
called in a friend to help him get it. 

"Now it has boiled over." ^ 

3. Tobacco-Seeds and Beaver-]\Iedicine. 

Once there were some men who owned a beaver-bundle. One of them 
went away on a journey and requested that the others await his return before 
planting the tobacco-seed. They did not wait. So when he returned he 
was very angry and aggrieved. He went out alone on the })rairie, crying to 
himself. At last a Lizard came u]) and asked him what the trouble was. 
AMien he told the Lizard what had hapi)ened, it promised to help him. It 
directed him to go into the woods. As he went along, he met a very old 
man. When he had explained his troubles to him, the old man called to- 
gether a great many (piadrupeds and birds. These animals set to work to 
prepare the ground for jilanting the seed. The Antelo])e and the Snow-bird 
offered to give him the power of their dung to make the plants grow. As 



1 This expression is often used to indicate the end of a narrative. 



80 Anthropological Papers American Musettm of Xatnral History. [Vol. II, 

they had no tobacco-seed, three birds vohmteered to go to the sun for a 
supply. So they started off to the sky, and when the first cloud was reached, 
one of them gave out; but the cloud turned him yellow. When the next 
cloud was reached, another gave out; but he became red. The other bird 
went on alone imtil he finally reached the sun, and became black. This 
one brought down the seed. Xow all the animals assembled, and proceeded 
to plant the new tobacco-seed. They sang many songs, and performed all 
the parts of the ceremony. When the seed was finally planted, they fenced 
in the plot with rocks and sticks, after which they all went away. The man 
now returned to his people with many new songs, and whenever he heard 
beaver-men singing, he would go into the lodge and sing his new songs, the 
number of which far surpassed the others. 

At the end of the season, when it was time for all the people to go out to 
gather their tobacco, it was foimd that the only tobacco growing was that 
planted by the animals. In every other plot the buffalo had trampled every- 
thing into the earth. The man gathered his tobacco and took it home. 
His friends were very much disap])ointed over the faihu'c of their planting. 
After a time, he invited them all to his lodge and gave them some of his 
tobacco. Then they transferred to him the other beaver-bundles and he 
put them together, so that now the tobacco-planting songs are a part of the 
beaver-medicine. 

4. Crow Indian Water-Medicine. 

Once a Crow Indian had a son killed in war. He was in mourning: 
so he took his lodge into the mountains and camped there that he might 
have dreams in which power would be given him to revenge the death of his 
son. He slept in the mountains ten nights. At last as he was sleeping, he 
had a dream, and in this dream he heard drtunming and singing. Then a 
man appeared and said, "Come over here: there is dancing." So he fol- 
lowed the man. They came to a lodge in which there were many old men 
and women. There were eight men with drums. He also saw weasel- 
skins, skins of the mink and otter, a whistle, a smudge-stick, some wild 
turnip for the simulge, and some berry-soup in a kettle. One old woman 
had an otter-skin with a weasel-skin arotmd it like a belt. So the man 
staid there, learned the songs which these people sang, and when he came 
back to his people he started the Crow-water-medicine. Since that time he 
has had other dreams: and the skins of the beaver, the muskrat, all kinds 
of birds, etc., ^yith many songs for each, have been added. 

This medicine has great power. If any one wishes a horse, he calls in 
some of the Crow-water-medicine people. Then they pray, sing, and dance. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mythology. SI 

The power of this medicine is such that after a while a man may come along 
and say, "I have had a bad dream. You must paint me, that the dream 
may not come true." Then he gives a horse as a fee. The medicine has 
power also in treating the sick. The people who have this medicine meet 
at regular times, — on Sundays and at the time of the new moon. They 
paint their faces with a broad red stripe across the forehead, and one across 
the mouth and cheeks. A rectangle of red is also ])aintetl on the back of 
each hand. Some wear plumes, 

5. SCABBY-ROUXD-ROBE. 

In the olden times, when Indians danced, it was the custom for a woman 
who had a lover to dress in his clothes and dance before the people, telling 
what deeds she would do in war; it being understood, of course, that it was 
the man, her lover, who intended to do these deeds. 

Now there was in the camp a very poor young man named Scabbv- 
Round-Robe, who had very few clothes, and who was in love with a young 
married woman. Her husband had another wife, but she was very old. 
He also had a bundle called the water-bundle [beaver-bundle]. One time 
when the women in the camp were about to dance, he said to the young 
wife, "Why do you not dance? Surely you must have a lover, almost 
every woman has one. Why do you not dress up, dance before the ])eople. 
and show who he is?" He did this because he was jealous of the young 
wife. 

Scabby-Round-Robe always wore a strip of skin around his licad with 
two magpie-feathers stuck up behind. His robe was very badly tanned and 
the corners had been cut off. That was the reason he was called Scabby- 
Round-Robe. He was very poor himself, but he had a chum who was very 
rich. Now one day he was out with his chum far from the camj). At this 
time the women were about to dance. When they began, there appeared 
among them the young woman wearing some of Scabby-Rouncl-Robe's 
clothes. The people looking on said, "^Mio is that woman wearing those 
queer things?" Then some one called out, "Oh, those are Scabby-Round- 
Robe's clothes! That must be his girl." Then the people laughed and 
derided. Some time before this, Scabby-Round-Robe had been taken away 
by the Beavers, and had lived with them one whole winter. By this means 
he obtained some of their power. One day he said to the yoimg woman, 
"If you ever do dance with the women, you must tell the people that when the 
waters are warm/ you will go on the war-path and kill an enemy." 

1 In the spiing of the year. 



82 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

Now, as the people were mocking, the young woman came forward and 
said, "Wait, I wish to speak." When they were quiet she said, "When 
the waters are Avarm, I shall go on the war-path and kill an enemy." 
Now the people laughed all the more at the thought of poor Seabby- 
Round-Robe going on the war-path and killing an enemy. While 
Scabby-Round-Robe and his chum were walking along, they heard a great 
uproar in the camp. His chum said, "Let us go to see what is going on."^ 
They came up just in time to hear the chief and the people make fun of 
Scabby-Round-Robe. Scabby-Round-Robe was very much hurt and went 
home at once. He said to his chum, "I shall go out on the hills, and sleep 
and wander about until the waters are warm. Then I shall return." 

Now it happened that a Snake Indian had killed a Piegan; hence the 
people must go to war in the spring. So when spring came, nearly all the 
men of the camp went out on the war-path. Scabby-Round-Robe and his 
chum followed along behind, out of sight. Scabby-Round-Robe always 
carried a stick he had from the Beavers. From time to time the war-party 
drove them back, but every time Scabby-Round-Robe and his chum would 
follow again, lliey were driven back repeatedly, but persisted in following. 
Finally it was reported to the chief that two boys were always following the 
scouts, upon which he gave orders that they should remain behind. At last 
the scouts reported that enemies were seen on the other side of a river, the 
waters of which were very high, and difficult to cross. So the Piegan moved, 
up to the edge of the stream and looked over at the hostile camp. Scabby- 
Round-Robe and his chum went up stream above the camp of their people. 
Scabby-Round-Robe said, "Now I shall kill a chief." He looked across 
the river and saw the chief of the Snakes talking to his people. Then he 
said to his chum, "You stay here upon the bank. I will cross over and 
bring a chief." Then he went into the water until it reached his arms,, 
when he dived under, coming up in the middle of the stream. When he 
came up, his people saw him, and called out, "That is one of our people 
crossing!" Scabbv-Round-Robe dived again, and came out near the 
opposite shore with his stick in his mouth. As he came up this time, the 
Snakes saw him; and their chief said, "I will go out and kill that fellow." 
So the chief waded out into the water with a long spear. Scabby-Round- 
Robe backed away until the water reached his breasts. Then he held the 
stick in front of him and sang a song. Hie chief ap])roached and struck 
at him; but the spear stuck into the stick. Then Scabby-Round-Robe 
took the spear, killed the chief, took him by the hair, and dived. He came 
up in the middle of the stream, in ])lain view of his peo])le, as if he meant 
to come ashore among them. Then he dived again, but came out at the 
place where his chum sat. He immediately scalped the chief, and ga\e his 



190S.] Wisslcr and Duvall, Blackj'uot Mijihologn. S3 

chiHii half the scalp, sayino-, "Take this qiiiek, before the others get here." 
The whole camp rose up as quickly as they could, and began the race to 
count coup on the dead chief. 

Now the Piegan started home. 

The young woman who had danced for Scabby-Round-Robe was out 
in the brush picking rosebuds for soup, when a war-party was announced. 
A runner came into the camp and said, "^Yhere is that girl who danced for 
Scabby-Round-Robe?" The people said, "She is out in the brush ])i(king 
rosebuds for soup." Then they called her. She at once tlirew down the 
rosebuds and ran out to meet Scabby-Round-Robe. When she met him, 
he kissed her and gave her the seal]) for the woman's scal])-dance. After 
the war-party had come in, the husband of the woman, wlio was a chief, 
took Scabby-Round-Robe to his lodge, and said, "I will give you this lodge, 
the woman, and my bundle of beaver-medicine: they are all yours." So 
Scabby-Round-Robe lived with the woman. Afterwards he taught the 
people some of the things he had learned from the Beavers, antl you will 
remember that in the beaver-songs, they often say that di\"ing is safety.' 

6. The Elk- Woman. 
(a) Blood Version. 

This medicine-bonnet was given to a woman who was cam})ing near the 
Mountains. One day while her husband was away she heard an Elk 
whistling in the woods. At another time when her husband Avas away, a 
man came to the lodge and asked her to go away with him. He told her 
that he was the Elk that she had heard, and that, if she would go away with 
him, he would give her some medicine. To this promise she finally con- 
sented and went with him into the brush, where he e.\])lained to her the 
whole ceremony.- He told her all about the medicim>-l)()nnet. calling in 
many animals to help give the woman some ])ower. Among these was the 
Crane, who offered the use of his bill to dig the medicine-turnip. He said 
his bill was to be carried on the back like the bunch of feathers on his own 
neck. Then the Crane proceeded to dig with his bill, aiul as he did so he 
sang a song, "I wish to be on level ground." 

A robe made of elk-skin, lised by the woman in the ceremony, is to rejuv- 
sent the Elk himself. The buiu-hes of feathers placed around the bonnet 
are to represent the prongs of the horns. There are about six bunches in all. 



1 Another version is given by Grinnell, op. cit., p. 117. Clark gives a brief abstrael (..-^igii 
Language, p. 71 \ 

- A similar incident is given by the Arikara (Dorsey, op. cit., p. 127). 



84 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

In front is hung a doll with quill-work upon it. A white-rock arrowpoint 
and some ear-rings are hung on the side. There are also two little dolls 
tied on near the feathers. Weasel-tails hang down by the side. Feathers 
of the owl are used in making up the bunches on the side of the bonnet, while 
behind is hung the skin of a woodpecker (?) and part of the tail of a wildcat. 
There should also be part of the tail of a white buffalo tied on somewhere. 
All of these parts were contributed by the animals called together by the man 
who took the woman into the brush, and each of these animals sang a song 
as they gave them. The buffalo was there also, and gave its hoofs, which 
were tied to the end of the digging-stick. 

You will see all these things upon the medicine-bonnet ; but the present 
one used by the Blood Indians is a little different from that used by the 
Piegan.^ 

(6) Picgan Version. 

You are asking me about the badger and the medicine-bonnet ? AVell, 
the badger-skin is used as a case in which to put the bonnet, but the badger- 
skin is a new addition to this. It was dreamed not so very long ago. This 
badger-skin should always be painted red, and it is necessary to go through 
a ceremony when it is painted. But now I must tell you about the bonnet. 

There was once an Elk who was deserted by his wife. When he found 
that she was gone, he went out to look for her, and finally saw her in the 
thick woods. He was very angry and wished to kill her: so he walked 
toward her singing a song. Now this was a medicine-song, and he intended 
that its power should kill his wife. He had great power. The ground 
was very hard; but at every step his feet sank deeper into it. Now his 
wife was frightened;* but she had some power also. She began to sing a 
song, and as she did so she turned into a woman. In her new form she 
wore a medicine-bonnet, a robe of elk-hide over her shoulders, and elk- 
teeth on her wrists. The song that she sang when she became a woman 
was : — 

"My wristlets are elk-teeth; 
They are j)n\verful." 

Then the woman moved toward a tree, moved lu-r head as if hooking at 
the tree, and it almost fell. Now when the Elk saw what she was doing, 



1 By way of comment, the narriitor said that the Elk did not teach the woman all that 
there was to l)e learned about it, hut that later it was learned that the bonnet was to l)e used 
in making^ a vow, and was to he worn by virtuous women only. Once, after this woman had 
received the boiuiei, the jieople were attacked by an enemy while they were camping in a 
ravine. The woman remembered the sons, "I wani to be on level groimd." She went up under 
the fire of the enemy, and, when out on tlie level i)lain, began to dig with a digging-stick while 
she sang this song. 'I'his ga\c her people i)owcr o\er their enemies, and sa\ed I hem from 
destruction. 



190S.] Wissler awl Duvall, Blackjoot Muthologij. 85 

he stopped in great surprise at her power. lie did \\o{ kill her as he had 
intended. 

This was Elk- Woman. In the sun-dance a tree or post is put up in the 
centre of the sun-lodge and the woman who wears the bonnet makes hooking 
motions at the pole, as did the Elk-^Yoman in the first part of the story. 

7. The Buffalo-Rock. 
(«). Piegati Version} 

Xow listen. I suppose you are asking about the iniskim [buffalo-roek], 
about the way we first came to get it. At a place called Elbow-on-the- 
Other-Side [in Canada] it was found. The woman who found it was very 
poor. Her name was Weasel-AVoman, and her husband's name was Chief- 
Speaking. Well, now you will hear the true account. 

At a curved cut bank called the Place-of-the-Falling-oft'-without-Excuse 
it was found. This woman was walking around there among fallen timber 
[logs]. Her people were all about to die of starvation. She had come out 
for wood, and was walking around picking up pieces of bark. Then she 
came to some berry-bushes on all sides of a log and began to pick white 
berries. Xow she heard something singing. The first that she heard was 
"Ho-o-o-o!" as if some one were making the wing-like movement." Near 
her was a log pointing towar(J the setting sun. The singing was in the log. 
An iniskim was sitting in a broken- out place at the end on a bed of shedded 
buffalo hair and sage-grass. She could just hear it sing. She stood with 
her head to one side, listening for a time. Then she began to pick berries 
again. Xow she heard it: — 

"Yonder woman, you must take me. 
I am powerful. 

Yonder woman, you must take me, 
You must hear me. 
Where I sit is powerful." 

Xow that is the way it sang to her. As she was walking towards the 
place from which the sound came, she saw that the object sitting in the 
broken place was the one that did it. Then it said, "Ky-ja, this is where it 
is singing." She did not know what kind of a thing it was. She thought 
that perhaps it was a mouse or a bird. As she slowly removed the shedded 



1 Taken as a text by Dr. Clark Wissler. This myth is the major part of the ritual for the 
iniskim and is in general a typical Blackfoot ritual. For a narrative of the origin of this ritual 
in tiie usual form of myths, see Grinncll, op. cit., p. 125. 

- A ceremonial gesture said to symbolize a bird. See also p. 104. 



8C Anthropological Papers Americai\ Mvseum of Natural History. [\o\. II, 

hair that covered the place, she saw it. It was a rock, a buffalo-rook. As 
she was standing over it, it said, "Do not take me yet. Go back and then 
walk slowly towards me." [It is now teaching her the songs and ceremonial 
procedure.] While she was approaching, it sang a song for the woman. 

"A buffalo-rock, I am looking for the place where he is sitting. 
Now I have fountl him. [Takes it up.] 
He is powerful. 

A buffalo-rock, I have taken him up. 
He is powerful." 

This is the song when she went forward to take it up. This is the time 
when it told her that she should sleep out in the brush for four nights. It 
said, "lAvillshow you ever^'thing about it. You, I have taken pity on you. 
Now you will be out four nights, and in eight nights you will get something 
to eat, you will sit down with great abimtlance." 

Now when she came home again she stood outside and said to her hus- 
band, "Do not be angry. I have received something [medicine-power]. 
We shall have something to eat. Chief-Speaking, do not think I am double 
married [committed adultery]. The reason I have been sleeping out is that 
I have received something. It is not valuable [meaning the reverse], but it 
is to be the only thing [medicine] you are to live by." Her husband said, 
"Now where is it?" Then he saw it. "Now," he said, "she slept out- 
side, and this one [the rock] sang for her." Then she came into the lodge. 
Her husband was a beaver-bundle man, and there was always a crowd of 
men in the lodge. He said to his head wife, " Give that woman yoin- clothes, 
she who is very poor." 

Now Weasel-Woman expected to receive tallow. They looked about 
for fat or grease, but every kind that was offered her was refused. At last 
they offered her some kidney-fat. Ihen she said, "That will do." She 
put it down there, then she sang. She was going to feed them all with it. 
She told the men to get their rattles ready. Then she sang: — 

"This man says, 
'Kidney-fat, I want to eat it.'" 

Then she sang about herself: — 

" ^\'oman says, 
'Kidney-fat to eat, I want to eat it.'" 

In the circle was a yoiuig unmarried man Avho had been chosen to lead the 
buffalo over [the drive]. She said to him, "You sit here at the head of the 
lodge. I shall paint your face first. You are going to eat first, for you are 
to drive the buffalo." Then he sat by hci-. Now she was painting his face. 
She was going to give him something to eat, and, changing the words of the 



1908.] Wissler and Dvrall, Blackfoot Mythology. 87 

song, teach him the way he should sing it when the buffalo were being driven 
up; also tell him how he should stand at the edge of the tleclivity where the 
buffalo are to fall over. He was to sing four times: — 

"I want to fall [them]. 
Kidney-fat, I want to eat it." 

The reason for all this was that the people might be fed. 

"Now," she said to her husband, "you are to handle this iniskim. ]Men 
are always better at it than women. Such things are not in keeping with 
the way we live. It will give you dreams [visions]. We will use it for a 
long time [live long]." "Yes, you are right," said her husband. 

Now she painted the young man's face. Now he was about to hear the 
song. Her husband was making the medicine-smoke. She took the young 
man's hand. 

"Man says, 'Woman, iniskim, man. 
They are powerful.' 

Man says, 'Those rocks, I move them around. 
It is powerful. 

Woman says, 'Those rocks, I move them around.' 
It is powerful.' " 

"Good running of buffalo. 
The driver is coming with them. 
We have fallen them. 
We are happy." 

(6). Northern Blackfoot Version? 

The first people, those are the ones that found the buft'alo-rock. Nearly 
starved were all the people. A man said to his wife, "Get some wood and 
build a fire." She said, "I am not strong enough; I am nearly starved." 
"Go on," said he. "There is no firewood here." Then she arose, sapng, 
"I shall go after firewood." She came to a place where there was wood, 
and, standing beside it, picked it up slowly. She was so weak that the 
exertion was painful. Then she heard singing, and looked around. At 
last she saw it. On the cut-bank's side she sat down. The thing doing 
the singing was the buft'alo-rock. The earth was sliding down: that is 
how she came to see it. While it was singing, the rock said, "Take me, I 
am powerful." On buffalo-hair it was sitting for a bed. It stretched out 
its arms. In order that food might be obtained is the reason she saw it. 



1 Rocks marking the lines leading up to the buffalo pound, or drive. 

2 Taken as a text by Dr. R. H. Lowie. 



88 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II , 

She took it up, wrapped it in the hair and put it inside her dress. Now she 
knew some food would be obtained. She went back to the camp. She 
went to her husband's lodge. She went inside. She said to her elder sister, 
"Tell our husband that I shall make medicine." So the elder one said 
to him, "My younger sister is about to make medicine." He said, "I have 
faith. Let her make medicine that we may have food." Then he called 
out, inviting the camp. All came to the lodge, • — - men, women, and children, 
— all came inside. "There is going to be medicine," he said. To the 
women and children he said, "Sit here" [the rear]. " Get some tallow,"' 
said he, "just a little." Then every one looked for it. A long time they 
had to hunt before finding any. 

Then the woman rubbed the fat on the rock. It began to sing when she 
did it. It sang to the woman, "Take me, I am powerful." I'he people 
all saw it. The woman passed it to them, and all kissed it. "You shall 
have food," she said. Then she began to sing and then to dance. All 
joined in the dancing. They made a noise like the buffalo. The woman 
sang, "A hundred shall I lead over" [the drive]. She said, "When you 
sing, do not say more than a hundred." Now a man said when he sang, 
"Over a hundred shall I lead over" [the drive]. The woman said, "We 
have made a mistake now. So many will go over, that the enclosure will 
be burst; they will jump out of it. There will be a solitary bull wandering 
through the camp to-night. It will be a mangy bull. Xo one shall kill it. 
Some one must go up the hill to watch in the morning. Look-Backwards, 
you are to go; buffalo you will see. The-One-We-]Made-Look-There, 
also watch. I^rom there you will see butfalo. If that bull comes to-night, 
we shall all be saved. If this rock fall on its face, then you will all be happy. 
There will be plenty of food." All went out. They were ha]:)py, because 
they were to receive food. The woman slept where the smudge was made. 
That rock made her powerful. 

He came through the camp, the one she said was coming, — - the mangy 
bull. They all knew him. I'hey all said, "Ah-a-al don't kill him. Rub 
his back with firewood." In the morning all were ha}i])y because the mangy 
bull came at night. They did not kill him, the one that was said to come 
at night. When the woman looked out, that rock fell over on its face. 
Then she told them to be hajipy, because they would ha\e something to 
eat. "It would be so, if it fell on its face," she said. Looking up, the 
people saw many buffalo close to the camp. Then the swift yoimg men 
went out and led the buffalo, many of them. They worked theiu into the 
lines. They frightened them to make them run swiftly. Then all ran over 
into the enclosure. Xow the people ran there. Inside were the buffalo. 
So manv were tliere, tliat the enclosure was broken down. Over a hundred 



1908.] Wissler and DuvuU, Blackfoot Mi/thology. 89 

were there. That is why they broke down the fence. Not many of them 
were killed. All the buffalo were bulls. That is why they broke down the 
fence. 

The woman's husband took all the ribs and back-fat, saying, "Wi h 
these shall a feast be made. Again my wife will make medicine." The 
people were somewhat happy as the number killed was small. "For a 
little [while] we are saved. We have a little meat," said the man. 

The next night it was called out again that the woman was to make 
medicine. This time she gave orders that only the women were to dance, 
so that cows might come to the drive. So the women danced. The men 
tried not to make another mistake. In the morning they looked from the 
hill again. They were made glad by the rock falling again on its face. 
Again the young men went out, and all was as before. Now all in the en- 
closure were cows. They were all killed with arrows. Xone of them got 
out. 

The people were happy now. They had plenty of meat. Every one 
now believed in the power of the rock. The woman who found the rock 
was respected by her husband. 

8. Origin of the Medicine-Pipe. 

The Blood Indians have had medicine-pipes for a very long time. There 
is one pipe amoi.g them that is so old that no one has any recollection of 
having heard of its being made by any one. So this pipe must be the real 
one handed down by the Thunder, for all medicine-pipes came from the 
Thunder. 

Once there was a girl who never could marry, because her parents could 
not find any one good enough for her. One day she heard the Thunder 
roll. "Well," she said, "I will marry him." Not long after this she went 
out with her mother to gather wood. When they were ready to go home, 
the girl's pa^^kstrap broke. She tied it together and started, but it broke 
again. Her mother became impatient; and when the strap broke the 
third time, she said, "I will not wait for you!" The girl started after her 
mother, but the strap broke again. While she was tying it together, a 
handsome young man in fine dress stepped out of the brush and said, "I 
want you to go away with me." The girl said, "Why tlo you talk to me 
that way? I never had an}thing to do with you." "You said you would 
marry me," he answered; "and now I have come for you." The girl began 
to cry, and said, "Then you must be the Thunder." 

Then he told the girl to shut her eves and not look, and she did so. 



90 Anthropological Papers American Mvsevm of Natural Histonj. \\o\. II, 

After a while he told her to look, and she found herself upon a high moun- 
tain. There was a lodge there. ^ She went in. There were many seats 
around the side, but only two people,.— an old man and woman. When 
the girl was seated, the old man said, "That person smells bad." The old 
woman scolded him, saying that he should not speak thus of his daughter- 
in-law. Then the old man said, "I will look at her." When he looked up, 
the lightning flashed about the girl, but did not hurt her. Because of this, 
the old man knew she belonged to the family. At night all the family came 
in one by one. The Thunder then made a smudge with sweet-pine needles, 
one at the door of the lodge, and one just back of the fire. Then he taught 
his daughter-in-law how to bring in the bundle that hung outside. This 
was the medicine-pipe. After a time the daughter-in-law gave birth to a 
boy, later to another boy. 

One evening the Thunder asked her if she ever thought of her father ai.d 
mother. She said that she did. I'hen he asked would she like to see them. 
She said, "Yes." So he said, "To-night we will go. You may tell them 
that I shall send them my pipe, that they may live long." When the time 
came, he told the woman to close her eyes, and once more she was standing 
near the lodge of her people. It was dark. She went in and sat down by 
her mother. After a while she said to her mother, "Do you know me?" 
"No," was the answer. "I am your daughter. I married the Thunder." 
The mother at once called in all of their relations, lliey came and sat 
around the lodge. The woman told them that she could not stay long as 
she must go back to her lodge and her children, but that the Thunder would 
give them his pipe. In four days she would come back with it. Then she 
went out of the lodge and disappeared. 

In four days the Thunder came with the woman, her two boys, and the 
pipe. Then the ceremony of transferring the pipe took place. When it 
was finished, the Thunder said that he was going away, but that he would 
return in the spring, and that tobacco and berries shoukl be saved for him 
and prayed over. Them he took the youngest boy and went out. A cloud 
rolled away, and as it went the peojile heard one loud thunder and one faint 
one [the boy]. Now, when the I'hunder threatens, the people often say, 
"For the sake of your youngest child," and he heeds their prayers. 

When the Thiuider left the woman and elder child behind, he said tliat 
if dogs ever attempted to bite them, they would disa])pear. One day a 
dog rushed into the lodge and sna]i])ed at the boy, aft(>r which nothing was 
seen of him or his mother, and to this day the owner of a medicine-pipe is 
afraid of dogs. 

1 It is often suid that tlie Thunder steals or seduces woiueu. For another version of a 
medicine-pipe origin, see Grinnell, op. cit., p. 113. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfuot Mytliologij. 91 

9. The "Worm-Pipe. 

Now a man was out hunting. One evening he ri'turned to his eanip and 
was sitting on his bed smoking. A hirge decayed piece of wood was burning 
in the fire. As he was sitting there he saw a worm crawUng along the stick 
of Avood. Then he heard singing. Now the worm became a person holding 
a pipe with a straight [tubular] bowl. The stem was decorated. It was a 
medicine-pipe. The person had an eagle-plume tied in his hair. He 
shook the pipe-stem, and began to sing, "The fire is my medicine." 

Then the worm-person transferred the pipe to the man.' 

10. A Pipe from the Seven Stars. 

The same man who got the pipe from a worm went out to hunt. After 
a time he decided to go up on a mountain-toj) to fast and sleep. He had 
been there four days when he heard singing from above: — 

" The Seven Stars say, 
'My pipe is powerful.'" 

"Old man says, 
'My pipe is powerful.' 
He hears me." 

Looking up, he saw that the smallest one of the Seven Stars was singing. 
Then it became a person, and gave him a medicine-pipe. 

11. The Black-Covered Pipe. 

Once a man was camping out alone. It was when the leaves were turn- 
ing yellow, and the elk are often heard to whistle. It was in the foothills of 
the mountains. He had been hunting here and killed four elk. Once, just 
after he killed an elk, he heard a Coyote call, " Wa-wa-woo-oo-oo!" Then 
he heard some one singing : — 

"Fine meat. 
I want to eat it." 

Now he saw what it Avas that was singing. It was a Coyote carrying a 
thorn-stick wrapped in his own skin. Then snid the man, "I will give 
you this elk." 

After this the Coyote gave him a medicinc-])ij)e. 



1 Grinnell (op. cit., p. 127) gives a different account of the origin of this pipe. 



92 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II,. 



12. The Otter-Lodge. 

]Man-with-a-Woinan-Inside-of-Hiin when a young man went out to a 
lake far in the north. This was known as Round Lake. It was very deep. 
He sk^pt on the shore, but had no ch-eams. Then he made a raft and lay 
upon it. While he slept the wind carried it far out from shore. Then a 
Mink a]:)peared in his flreams, and said, "Come to my father's lodge!" 
He heard drumming down under the water. Xow the man awoke, but could 
not go to the lodge because of the water. So the Mink came up again and 
told him to shut his eyes. He shut his eyes, and upon opening them found 
himself under water in a lodge.^ The otter was lying at the back of the fire 
in a large pile of grass from the shore of the lake. Then the Otter became 
as a person, and spoke to the man. He said that he would give him some 
power. He took up some of the grass and made a smudge, at the same 
time singing a song in which the following ideas were expressed : — 

"This is my lodge. 
It is a medicine-lodge. 
I will give it to you. 
The water is my lodge. 
It is medicine." 

The Otter sang seven songs and at the last took up an otter-skin, held it in 
his hands and sang: — 

"I will have a dream when I sleep." 

Then the Otter made a smudge and held his hands in the smoke. Then he 
took hold of the man's hand and placed the otter-skin in it. The wife of the 
Otter who had aided him in signing and handling the bundles, now^ trans- 
ferred a mink-skin to the man in the same way. 

The man staid with these people until he learneil many songs and the 
ways of handling the bundle. 

13. The Bear-Lodge. 

In the old days, before the Blacki'oot hatl liorscs, they were moving canii) 
with dog-travois. A little boy was strapped to a dog-travois. The dog 
went to get a drink of water. He j)assed through some bushes. The travois 
was untied and fell off with the child. The dog ran off', while the boy 
remained sleeping on his travois. The dog caught u]) with the camj). 

1 The several divisions of the Blackfoot have a large number of ceremonial teepees to 
which belong bundles and rituals. The teepees are painted with designs symbohzing parts of 
these rituals. For a general description of teepees of this type, see Grinnell, The Lodges of the 
Blackfoot (American Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. HI, pp. 650-668). 



1908.] Wissler and Dnrall, Blackfoot Mi/thologi/. 93 

The boy's mother saw the dog without his travois, and went back to look 
for the boy. She failed to find hiui. The next day she said, "I shall find 
my boy this night." But though she searched for him, she could not find 
him. 

The child cried at night. The Bear heard him and went to see what 
was the matter. He took the child to his cave. AYhen inside, the boy 
looked up. He thought it was a tent, for the Bear had painted his cave on 
the outside Avith his own figure. His hind-feet were marked about the tent 
in front, and there were painted wings on the roof. Bear said to the boy, 
"You are to stay with me all winter. I shall make food for you." The 
child staid there all winter, and Bear transformed buffalo-chips into meat 
which he gave the boy to eat. He made ripe berries for him out of saska- 
toon-sticks. The boy grew very fast diu'ing the winter. Next fall, when 
the leaves were turning yellow, the Blackfoot went back near the Bear's 
cave. Bear, going outside, saw the Indian camp. He returned and 
•ordered the little boy to return to his people. The boy's parents were no 
longer looking for him, thinking he was dead. Bear told the boy that his 
name was Big-Bear. He gave his name and tent to the boy, telling him to 
paint his lodge in the same way as his cave. He also gave him a large 
knife, called the "bear-knife."^ Then he gave him some medicine. He 
said, "You will be an old man, for your enemies cannot hurt you. You 
have nothing to be afraid of." Then the Bear said, "Now go home to 
your father. Take this medicine, and whenever you want something you 
will be able to get it." 

The boy went home. When he reached camp, he painted his body and 
face. People saw the boy, but did not recognize him. Having lived with 
the Bear so long, he was very wild. He said to the people, "I am the boy 
you lost." Then his parents knew him. He said, "I shall not hurt you, 
for I pity you." He staid with his parents, but grew wilder and wilder. 
He was a great fighter, and took away other Indians' wives. The j^eople 
were afraid of him. One day they held a council and decided to kill him. 
They took their bows, arrows, and stone knives. Big-Bear sent his parents 
to the bush. Then he attacked his enemies. The people shot at and hit 
him; but he just rubbed his body, and there was no wound. He killed 
many Indians. At last they said, "We cannot kill you." Then he bade 
his parents go home, saying, "They are afraid of me. Let us go home." 

They went home, and the people never again tried to kill him. Big- 
Bear now was kind to everybody. He painted his lodge and was called 
Big-Bear. He became a great chief. "Whenever he fought, he kilUxl many 

1 See narrative No. 17. 



94 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. 11, 

of the enemy without getting hurt hiniseH". AVhen there was lack of water^ 
he merely scrunched the earth, and produced water for his parents. He 
lived very long. All his children were as strong as he. The tent and the 
knife are still here.^ 

14. The Horse-Lodge. 

Once there was a })oor man who had just one horse, a mare. It was- 
Avhite. The man was married. He had also a white stud colt. The 
colt grew to a fine size. This story is not an account of a dream, but a 
statement of things that really hapjiened. In course of time the man be- 
came rich, and owned many horses. He did not ride the M'hite mare then, 
but took good care of her. One day he led her down to water. While 
drinking, she s})oke to him, much to his surprise. She said, "Father, I 
shall give you a lodge. To-morrow morning, when you go out to tend yorir 
horses, you will see a lodge." 

The next day, when the man went out to look for his horses, he came 
to a lodge, on the right side of which stood his old white mare and on the 
left side the colt. The White ]Mare said to him as he came near, "You are 
to paint this lodge as I direct." The man brought paints, water, and buffalo- 
fat, and painted the lodge as the White ^lare directed. On the right side 
he painted with white clay, the j^ictiu'c of the old white mare. On the other- 
side he ])ainted with the same kind of clay the ]>icture of the colt. Around 
the top he painted the seven stars, the bimch stars and the morning star. 
Around the bottom he painted in rctl the earth and the hills, and in white 
the fallen stars. When the painting was finished, the old White jNIare 
took her master into the lodge, where she taught him the songs and the 
ritual. Then the man took the lodge home with him and showed it to the 
people, '^rhis man was a Piegan. After a time he transferred the lodge 
and the ritual to a Blood, who transferred it to a Northern Blackfoot. 
Finally it was transferred back to a Piegan, its present owner, who has made 
use of its power for thirty years. When it was transferred to him, he gave 
away ten horses. 

lo. Bi.AC'K AM) Yellow Biiialo Painted Lodges. 

One time two men were sitting on a rock by the side of a river, making 
arrows. As they looked down into the water they saw a lodge standing on 
the bottom. One of the men said, "I l)clievr I will enter this lo(lg(>." So 



1 Recorded by Dr. 11. H. Lovvie. 



1908.] Wtsslcr and Dtn-dlL BUickjoot Mijllwlogjj. 95 

he dived down into the water. Wiien he got into tlie loilge he found no 
VN'ater on the inside. A great deal of medicine was hanging up in this lodge, 
and when the man came out he told all his people what he had seen. At 
another time the same men were camped at a place where some people saw 
another lodge down in the Avater. AYhen this man heard about it, he dived 
down and entered, as before. Here, again, he saw a great deal of medicine 
hanging up. 

Now this was the beginning of the black-and-yellow buffalo-lodges. 
^Yhile the man was on the inside, he was taught the whole ceremony. And 
when he came up, he got together all the medicine, and painted the lodges 
as you see them now. These two are the most powerful painted lodges 
we have.^ 

1(). The Crow-Paixted Lodge. 

There is another painted lodge known as the Crow Lodge. It came 
about in this way. One man was catching eagles on a hill. He had made 
a hole in which he was hiding. After a while he went to sleep. He dreamed 
that a Crow came to him saying, "This is my lodge. Now I shall give it to 
you with the medicine and songs." So the Crow transferred the lodge to 
the man, taught him the songs and the ceremony. 

17. The Bear-Kx'ife. 

Once in the winter-time, just one month before summer, or on the sixth 
moon, a Sarcee was out hunting when a blizzard came down upon him. 
This Sarcee was of mixed blood, for his father was a Piegan. Now in the 
blizzard he lost the direction, because he could not see. He was feeling 
around in the brush and timber for shelter. He was nearly frozen, but 
finally he felt on the ground a warm spot. This was a bear's den. As he 
went in, it got warmer and warmer. Presently he heard a Bear begin to 
growl. Then he stopped and began to pray to the Bear. Now the Bears 
had a young one, a young male. And this Bear said to his father, "I pity 
this young man. Do not harm him!" Then the father said, "Well, all 
right," and the mother said the same. Then the father said to his son, 
"You give him some of your power first." 

So the son told the young man to come in. AYhcn tlic man was inside, 
he saw it was a lodge, painted and decorated, witli a bearskin for a door. 



1 For a more complete version of this myth, see Giinnell (Lodges of the Blackfeet, op. cit.. 
p. 658). The same article (p. 663) contains a brief narrative concerning the origin of another 
ceremonial teepee. 



^6 Anthropological Papers American Miiseiim of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

Now he was in the lodge. At the back of the lodge he saw a rawhide bag 
and a lance, and on the sides were four persons and four drums. The son 
said to the man, "You sit at the head of the lodge" [that is where the guests 
are seated]: "I will sit by you." In front of the man was a pile of thorn- 
bushes with very sharp thorns. "Now," said the young Bear, "I will give 
you my knife." "All right," said the man. Then the Bear mixed some 
red paint in a cup of water, and said to the young man, "Now you must take 
off your clothes." The man did so, and sat there naked. Now the Bear 
took up a big turnip, and, taking some fire, put it down upon the ground 
before him, singing a song as he did so: — 

"On the earth I want to sit. 
It is powerful." 

Then he took down the knife, held it to his breast and in the smoke, singing 
all the while a kind of dancing-song in which were the words, "The ground 
where I sit is holy," and making the sound of a bear. All this time the knife 
was in the bag. Now he began to sing another song, which is called the 
"Untying Song." Then he put the knife down. Now he made another 
smudge, took up the knife, and then mixed some paint in his hand. And 
as he sang : — 

"The ground is our medicine." 

He rubbed the red paint on his hands and then over his face, afterwards 
scratching it with his fingers, llien he took up black paint and made the 
marks representing the bear-face. Then he took claws, and put one on each 
.side of the head. Then he took paws (?) and put them on for a necklace. 
But before he put the necklace on he held them in the smoke and smudge, 
and sang: — 

"Bear-man says, 'It is medicine. 
I want it.'" 

As he put it on his head he sang: — • 

"Bear is looking for sometliing to eat." 

Then he caught the person next to him, as if about to eat him. (Everything 
that was done was accompanied with bear actions.) Then he took up the 
knife, held it over the smudge, and took some eagle-tail feathers for a head- 
dress. All this time they were sitting near the thorns and the Bear had all 
his regalia on. Then the Bear took up the knife, and as he sharpened^ it 
sang: — 

"My children, on the other side of the hill is a big noise. 
You get into the brush. 
I will be safe. 
I have power." 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mythology. 97 

At the last words of the sons; he thrust the knife into the earth, and. holdino- 
It ' ' & 

it by the handle, sang: — 

"I am looking for some one to kill." 

Then with the knife he pretended to be about to stab the man, and, catchino; 
hold of him, threw him ujion the thorns on his breast, and holding him there 
painted him. Then the Bear took him up again and dressed him in his 
own regalia. Then taking the hand of the man in his own, and both holding 
the paint, he began to sing, touching the paint to the man's wrist, elbow, 
breast, and head. Then he laid the man down on his breast, and slapped 
him on the back with the flat part of the knife. This he did four times with 
the man turned in each of the four directions. Then the Bear said, "Now 
you must sleep out in the timber for seven days. Whenever you pursue an 
enemy you must sing this song, and make the movements I do: — 

'I will rmi after him. 
He will fall. 
I will stab him.' 

If the enemy shoot at you, do not dodge; if you should do this, you will be 
killed. Do not turn back, but keep on. If you turn back, sores will break 
out on your body, and they ^^ill be fatal." 

Now a long time after the man had gone back to his people, he was out 
on the war-path and in battle against the Assiniboine. One of the enemy 
came up to him, put his gun against him, pulled the trigger, but it missed 
fire. "^I'hen the man took the Assiniboine by the hair, and stabbed him with 
the knife. As years went on, he killed many enemies with his knife in that 
way. It was very strong medicine. This knife is still among our people, 
but there are two of them.^ 

Now it was the tiu'n of the father-bear to give the man something, so he 
gave him a lance with an otter-skin hanging tlown decorated with feathers. 
Bear's claws were hung to it for bells [rattles]. The shaft of this lance was 
Avrapped with elk-skin, and a head-dress of bear-claws went with it. 

There was one thing I forgot to tell you about the bear-knife, and that 
is, when a man is to receive the knife, the knife is thrown at him. If he 
catches it, it is all right; but if he does not catch it, he cannot receive the 
medicine. 

Then the Bear took up the lance, painted it and made a smudge as before, 
singing, "Bear above, says the earth is our lodge." Then he mixed the paint 
and pa hi ted his face as before. Then he sang another song, and as he did 

1 When the bear-knife is transferred, the ceremony is the same as performed by the bear in 
this narrative. The transfer of tlie knife is so rough, that no one will take it, unless forced to do 



98 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

SO struck the lance into the ground. While singing another song he took up 
the lance in the same manner as the knife, then threw the man upon the 
thorns, and })ainted him as before. The words in this song were: — 

"Underneath is a bear; he has sun power." 

Now the lance was thrown at the man and he caught it. If he had failed, 
he would not have received it. Then the Bear gave him the same instruc- 
tions as for the bear-knife.^ 

Now it was the old woman's turn to give the man something, and she 
gave him a painted lodge. This lodge is still among the Northern Blackfoot. 
On it is a picture of a bear. The owner of the lodge wears bear-claws for 
anklets, wristlets, and ornaments on his head. He also wears a feather 
head-dress and a bear-robe. The smudge song for the bear-lodge is as 
follows : — ■ 

"The earth is our home. 
It is medicine." 



The next song: 



"My lodge I give it to you. 
It is powerful." 



Then she took up the paint and sang as she painted him : — 

'Be not afraid. 
Never turn back. 
Think of the one you kill and eat." 

The woman told the man that no one must spit inside of the lodge, but he 
must raise up the side, and spit on the outside. (Same is true of the medi- 
cine-lodge.) The medicine-bundle for this lodge was the robe and the other 
objects to be worn by the man. It must also have a bearskin for a door, 
for this is the lodge in which the man found the bears. 

18. The Smoking-Otter. 

Once tluTc was a white man and his wife who had for a friend a young 
Indian who was not married. The white man took the Indian off to a 
srreat water. They went out to a lonelv island which was the nesting- 
ground for many kinds of birds. The ground in many places was covered 
witli feathers. They camped there for a while. After a time the white 
man began to be sus])icious of his Iiuliaii friend on account of his wife. 



1 The lance was buried several years ago with the body of its last owner. During these 
ceremonies the wife of the recipient of the ritual was also thrown down upon the thorns. Once 
an indecent exjKJSure of the woman occurred when this part of the ceremony was reached, the 
narration of which afterwards came to have a definite place in the transfer proceedings. 



190S.] Wissler and DiivaU, Blackfuot Mylhology. 99 

He thought that she was in love with the Indian. Now the days on the 
islanil were very hot, and one day the Indian said that he was going down 
on the shore on the other side of the island to take a swim. As soon as he 
Avas gone, the white man \)\\X his wife into a boat and rowi-d away as fast as 
he could. When the Indian came back, he looked around for his friends. 
Seeing the boat in the distance he knew what had happened. He watched 
the boat out of sight. Then he began to cry. As the man and his wife 
had taken everything with them, the young Indian made a bed of feathers, 
crawled into it, and mourned all night. So he lived on the island alone, 
sleeping in feathers, and digging roots. ^ 

One day the Indian saw an Otter and a white Swan swimming toA\arcI 
the shore. As they came up, they spoke to him, saying, "]My son, do not 
be frio-htened, for we have come to take vou to the shore; but vou must shut 
your eyes, and not open them again until we tell you. We will get to the 
shore yet before the white man does." Then the swan l)egan to sing songs. 
The words were as follows : — 

"The man says, 'The wind is my medicine. 
The rain is my medicine, 
The hail is my medicine.' " 

Then the Otter sang a song. First he dipped his fingers into the water 
four times, rubbed them on his hair, blew his whistle four times, and sang: — 

"Wherever I lie, I hear. 
The water is my medicine." 

This is the way the Smoking-Otter medicine came to be among the 
Indians. When the Indian was brought back to his people, he took an otter- 
skin and a swan-skin for his medicine. Whenever the owner of this medicine 
begins to smoke, he shakes the bells on the otter four times, 'i'hen he takes 
some smoke, blows it into the hollow of his hand, and rubs it on the otter- 
skin. Then he blows one handful to the otter, one to the bells, one to the 
owner's heart, and one to the ground. This last is because the otter runs on 
the ground. There is ])ower in this, because the otter is supposed to have 
long life. 

19. The Medicixe-Shields. 

Once there was a man named Always-Talking and a woman named 
Stepped. This woman was the wife of Always-Talking; but she fell in 
love with a vounger man. When her husband discovered this, he killetl her. 



1 To tliis point in the narrative we have what seems a version of a Dakota myth, Riggs, 
on tit p 130; also Wissler, Journal of .\merican Folk- Lore, Vol. XX, p. 196. It is mteresting 
to find' a fragment of this myth among the Blackfoot accounting for the origin of a medicine- 
bundle. 



100 Anthropological Papers America?} Museum of Xatural History. [\o\. II, 

Then he went about and around the camp, telling- all the peo])le what he had 
done, and that they should move camp at once. This was according to 
the custom of that time, when women who committed this offence were 
killed and their bodies left imburied. So the people moved their camp far 
to the north, where they crossed a large river. Ihis was early in the spring 
and the water of the river got very high, so high that they could not cross 
back again. Always-Talking had two wives left, but he moiu'ned for his 
other wife, and was sorry that he had killetl her. 

Many buffalo were roaming about on the side of the river where the 
woman's body lay. There were eight buffalo who travelled by themselves, 
one was a cow and seven were bulls. '^ The Cow always led the bunch. As 
they were going along one day, they came to the body of the deatl woman. 
They stopped, stood around and looked at it. The Cow said, "For this 
woman I am sorry. I pity her. You must doctor her." To this the others 
replied, "We are sorry too. We will do what we can for the jioor woman." 
One of the bulls was the husband of the Cow and he said to her, "You go 
over to the herd and pick out seven cows to aid us in doctoring the woman." 
The Cow went away and came back with seven others. Now all the buffalo 
knew what was going on and gathered around in a large crowd. 

The woman had been dead a long time, and nothing remained except her 
bones. As the buffalo stood around, they all became people, painted and 
dressed in fine clothes. They had seven drums and other medicine things. 
Then they began to sing a song. The words were, "We want buff'alo to 
come to life." Then they all walked aroimd the skeleton and pawed until 
it was covered with dirt and grass. They sang many other songs. Then 
the Cow and her husband approached the place where the skeleton was 
covered up, and each hooked at the place twict\ Then the other buff'alo 
•did the same in their turn. Then the husband of the Cow led the buffalo 
around to one side and brought them up toward the feet of the skeleton. 
Then they hooked as before; then back again antl up toward the right side 
of the skeleton; then toward the head. As they came toward the head of 
the skeleton, the husbantl of the (^ow rushed at the heap of dirt, and the 
woman came to life and stood uj). Then the woman took the lead of the 
procession and all the buff'alo fell in behind. The husband of the Cow 
came directly behind the woman. He had great power. He would blow 
through his nose and all the ditt'erent colored paints would come out. He 
blew these paints upon the woman. The other buff'alo carried seven tlrums, 
and sang this song : — 



See footnote \>. 122 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mylhology. 101 

"Buffalo is going to drink. 
Water is my medicine. 
Buffalo is going to eat. 
Grass is my medicine." 

The meaning of this song was, that when the woman .should drink and eat 
she would be fully restored to life. As the procession ap})roached the river, 
they stopped three times, and a fourth time at the edgt^ of the river. While 
they stopped there, they sang this song: — 

"Our road is powerful. 
We look for a powerful road." 

Now the woman had been dead so long that she had to be given the 
power to drink and to eat. So the husband of the Cow put her mouth to 
the water with four movements, and directed her to drink by licking the 
water four times. Then he took a buffalo horn spoon, painted it red and 
yellow, and gave the woman water from it. Then he took some dried meat, 
rubbed it in his hands, making four movements toward the woman's mouth, 
and gave it to her to eat. Now the woman was restored to life. The 
husband of the Cow gave her some buffalo- hair and said, "When you cross 
this river, go into the lodge of your husband, and if he is still angry at you, 
throw this hair at him, and he will die of the small-pox. If he treat you well, 
make him a shield, and one for each of your two brothers." The river 
was now very deep, and in order that the woman might cross, the buffalo 
made a bridge of shields over the river. The Cow told the woman to shut 
her eyes, and began to lead her across. She said to the woman, "When you 
have reached the other side, the buffalo will give you your choice of three of 
these shields. There are three medicine-shields here, — the first one upon 
which you shall step, the fourih, and the one in the centre of the bridge. 
You choose these, and when you get back make them." When the woman 
was safely across, the husband of the Cow placed all the shields before her 
in a row that she might choose some of them. She picked out the three 
shields as directed by the Cow. The Bull advised her to take others. He 
said, "Those you have selected have no power. The other shields are 
medicine-shields." But the woman .still insisted upon taking her first 
choice, and after refusing the others four times, she was permittetl to take 
them. Xow one of the shields she took belonged to the husband of the Cow. 
He said to the woman, "]My shield miist never be jiut down in the house, 
but must hang upon a tripod. The face of the shield must always point 
toward the sun, and it must be moved on the trii)oil to follow the sun." 

Xow the woman started to retrirn to her ])eople. When she came in 
sight of the camp, she C(mcealed herself until it was dark, and then went to 
the lodge of her husband. " Is inv husband at home?" >he said. "He is," 



102 Antliropological Papers American Museum of Natural Histori/. [Vol. II, 

a man replied. Ahvays-Talking recognized his wife and gave her a hearty 
welcome. He forgave her all the past. After a time the woman told Always- 
Talking that he should kill three large bulls and give her the skins. AVhen 
the skins were brought to her, she made three shields. She gave one to 
Always-Talking, and one to each of her brothers. She said to them, "When 
you go out on the war-path, you must take these three shields. You must 
never turn back until you meet enemies. If you do so, you will surely die." 
This is the way the people got medicine-shields. 

20. Never-Sits-Dowx's Shield. 

SomeAvhere on the other side of the moiuitains a Piegan was sleeping 
in lonely places. One night he slept in a buffalo- wii How and had a dream. 
Next day he returned to his people and entered his father's lodge. The 
next day he asked his father to cut a piece of skin from the belly of a bull 
and shrink it by heating over a fire. This done, he was to cut it round like 
the sun, and paint the picture of a bull and a cow on one side; also to ])ut 
a fringe across the middle of the shield to represent the beard of the l)ull. 
In the centre of the piece he was to tie the head of a jack-rabl)it. Then he 
Avas to take a piece of elk-horn, bend it into a hook, and tie it across the 
middle. Wristlets were to be made from the skin of the buffalo's nose, and 
dew-claws were to be tied to them. Armlets were to be made from the skin 
taken from the throat where the hair is long. A strip of skin from the 
buffalo's mane was to be taken for a necklace. Finally his father was 
requested to get a white horse with red ears, and to bob his tail like that 
of the rabbit. 1 he horse should be made to look as much like the rabbit 
as possible. A whistle was to be used to imitate the noise made by the 
rabbit. 

When the l)oy's father had done all this, he was directed by his son to 
hang the shield upon a pole on the back of the lodge, then to ride round the 
cam]) and tell all the people to stake down their lodges. "When this is 
done," said the boy, "I shall sing a song, and if nothing iiaj)])ens, we shall 
destroy this shield." So the boy's father rode round the cam]), calling out 
to all the ])eo])le and telling th(>m to stake down their lodges and send a 
swift rumicr to assist his son. The whole cami) knew that some ])owerful 
medicine was al)out to work. The women hiu'ried out to stake down their 
lodges. When the father returned to his lodge, the boy dug u]) some dirt 
at the side of his bed, and scattered some light-colored dust in the hole. 
"This," said he, "is to re])resent the ])lace where the buffalo do their ])awing." 
The young man directed the nnmer to go out by the left side of the loilge 
and run ai'ound very fast, take tlie shield down from tlie ])ole as he ran, 



1 90S.] Wissler ami DuvaU, Blackfoot Mythology. 103 

and bring it into the lodge ■without stO])])ing. "While the runner was doing 
this, the boy sang a song. He Avas sitting doA\'n a\ ith a buffalo-robe, hair- 
side out, drawn around him. When the runner came in with the shield, 
the boy put it on by putting his feet through the carrying-straj) and })ulling 
it over his shoulders. Then he fell over into the hole he had dug, rolled in 
the dust he had scattered there, and grunted like the buffalo. Then he got 
up and shook himself. Immediately a great storm came. It blew the dust 
the boy shook from himself straight up into the air. It did not blow down 
the lodge in which the shield was; but every other lodge in the cam]) was 
blown over, notwithstanding the fact that they had been staked down very 
tight. In this way, the great medicine-power of this shield became known 
to the people. 

Once, a long time after this, the enemy attacked the camp, and the 
Piegan were driven back among their lodges. The boy who owned the 
shield sat quietly in his lodge and let them fight. His people called him to 
come out, but he sat still. Finally he sent for a number of young men, and 
when they arrived he recjuested them to get a nimiber of young cotton- 
wood-trees and put them against his lodge. While the young men were 
bringing the trees, the boy had his horse brought in. The young men soon 
came back, and brought so many trees that they almost broke down the 
lodge. Then the boy ])ut on his wristlets, his armlets, his necklace, took 
the shield, sang a song, rolled in the dust and shook himself, as before. This 
time, however, he shot straight up in the air and came out at the top of the 
lodge, breaking some of the cottonwood-trees, and came down astride his 
horse. The horse jumped four times, like a rabbit. All this time the enemy 
were shooting at him. As the horse jumped the fourth time, the enemy ran. 
The boy pursued them, striking them with the hook of elk-horn that hung 
upon the shield, and every man struck fell dead. 

The shield takes its name from its owner, who always sat down; but the 
people speak of him, according to their way, as he who never-sits-down. 

21. The Eagle-Head Charm. 

One day a man came to a tall tree in the top of which was an eagle's 
nest. The nest was made of sticks, and was very broad. The man looked 
up at it. He saw a buffalo-calf standing up there. "These birds have 
some great power," he said. "I will sleep here [at the foot of the tree] to 
see if I get some power." So he put his robe over his head, lay down 
under the tree and slept. He awoke, hearing a puff' of wind. He uncovered 
his head and found himself uj) in the nest. The buff'alo-calf, frightened, 
was jumping about snorting. Looking up, the man saw two eagles circling 



104 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

around the tree. They were very high and were sounding their whistles 
[screaming]. There was a wind. The eagles came down. The man was 
afraid. He took two yoimg eagles up in his arms and cried. The female 
eagle said, "Let us do something for this man: he takes pity on our children." 
Then the male eagle struck the buffalo-calf, knocking him oft' the nest, and 
also knocking oft' a dead calf that was there. Then he became a person 
and stood before the man. The eagle-person sang songs. He had a straw 
in the bunch of hair at the top of his head. He told the man that this was 
to make him as hard to hit [in a fight] as a straw. 

First Song. 

"I don't want them [enemy] to kill me. 
These here [the straw, etc.] I shall fight with." 

Second Song. 

"This here, my head-top, wear. 
It is powerful. 
Guns for me are fun [easy to overcome]." 

Third Song. 

"That there I am looking for. 
Guns [are] my medicine." 

While singing the third song, the eagle-person waved his arms as if flying 
around, and moved his head as if searching for the guns. At the end of it 
he blew his whistle four times and took the man down to the ground. 

Fourth Song. 

"Gun I want to eat [capture]." 

Fifth Song. 

"Now let me eat a gun." 

While singing the fifth song, the eagle-person flapped his arms, and at the 
end blew his whistle. Then he said to the man, "I will give you some 
power." He took a feather from his tail and threw it through the body of 
the calf, saying, "So you can do to enemies." The man said to himself, 
"I do not want such power as this, to kill people." The female eagle said, 
"Do not give him such a power as that. Give him some other power." 
So the male eagle said, "Wt-ll, you will get long life and good luck." 

Soon after, the man came to a place where some yotuig men were shoot- 
ing at white-headed eagles. He watched them. They killed one. He 
asked for the head and a wing-ljone. Wlien tliev were given to him, he tied 



1908.] Wisslcr aiul Duvall, Black/not Mijthologij. 105 

the head on to his hair and made a whistle of the bone. The man soon went 
on a raid and got many horses. He went into many fights, but always got 
out safely. ^Yhen a very old man, he transferred the charms and formula 
to a young man, its jiresent OAvner, who attributes his long life and safety 
to its power. 

22. The Pigeons. 

Once an old man was in mourning for a son who had been killed on the 
war-path. He had gone out to the place where the body had been found. 
Then he went up on a high hill. This was a very lonesome place; but there 
were many pigeons there. The name of this man was Changes-His-Camp. 
The place was in the direction of the Crows. He himself was a Piegan. 
Now it was the fall of the year, and the old man was crying for his son. 
While he was doing this, he heard the turtle-doves inviting each other. 
He went over and joined them. They said that they would give him a 
society. They said that he had mourned a long time and that now he was 
about to get revenge. That he would move camp a few times and three 
Crow Indians would be killed. Then they danced, and showed him the 
whole thing. When he came back, he started the Pigeons.^ 

23. The Mosquitoes. 

Once a Piegan lived in the woods in the far north. This was a long 
time ago. One day he was out hunting in timber in which there were a great 
many insects; but the insects were all in their holes because it Avas raining. 
The man wore a buckskin shirt, leggings, and moccasins. After a while 
the day cleared off, and at once the insects began to fly. They swarmed 
around the man so thick that he could not push them away. At last they 
got under his clothing. They bit him all over until he was almost dead. 
At last he was exhausted, and fell down upon the ground. Now the insects 
settled on his face, and began to work their way into his eyes, nose, and ears. 
His whole head was covered with them. Before he became unconscious, 
he heard a voice calling out, " ^loscpiitoes, mosquitoes, get together, get 
together! Your friend is nearly dead." Then the mosquitoes got together 
and came out in single file. The man saw that four of them were })ainted 
yellow with blue stripes across the eyes, nose, and checks. The othiM-s were 



1 The Blackfoot maintained a series of related societies for men similar to the military socie- 
ties of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Hidatsa, etc. The names given them by Griunell are Little- 
Birds, Pigeons, Mosquitoes, Braves, All -Crazy (?) Dogs, Raven-Bearers, Dogs, Tails, Horns 
Kit-Foxes, Catchers, and Bulls. Our collection of narratives contains origin myths for a num- 
ber of these. See Grinnell, Blackfoot Lodge Tales, op. cit., pp. 104, 221. 



Ifif) AnthropoJngical Papers American Museum of Natural Historij. [\o\. II, 

painted red. These foiir were ealled the "yehow mosquitoes," and wore 
eagle-tail feathers in their hair. The others wore plumes and a long feather 
hanging down from the head. They had a leader who wore a feather on 
his head, and had his face painted yelloAv with red bands cross it. Also 
four of them carried a piece of rawhide with the hair on it, upon which they 
beat time. They wore moccasins and breech- cloths. All the members 
wore eagle-claws on their wristlets, the strings of which were wraj^ped with 
porcupine-cpulls. They all sat down in a circle while a song was sung. 
Then all danced around in the direction of the sim four times, and, springing 
up, they dashed upon the insects, quickly driving them away. 

24. The Braves. 

Once a boy was out hunting squirrels with boAv and arrows. He chased 
a sf[uirrel into a hole, and lay near by waiting for it to come out. He waited 
so long that he fell aslee]^ with his head resting on the bow. After a Mhile 
he heard shouting and then a war-whoop. This caiised him to wake up. 
He could hear the shouting, but could see nothing. Finally he looked up 
into the sky, where he saw many men coming tlown. Behind the main 
body were two side by side, and in the rear one man. Their robes were 
turned hair-side out, and buffalo-hoofs hung from the corners. One of the 
men carried a stick with jilimies fastened to it. The men in the front row 
had their faces painted black. One in the centre of the front rank wore a 
fine suit trimmed with Aveasel-tails and a feather in his heatl. All the others 
wore rol)es. This leader carried a rattle in his hand, half of which was 
painted yellow and half red, with a hawk-feather hanging from the end. 
His face was j^ainted half red and half yellow. Then the men all fell into 
single file. In the rear were four men })ainted l)hick, -and wearing l)lack 
robes. Each carried a lance wrapped in black cloth trimmed with four 
bunches of crow- feat hers, 'i'heir faces were painted with white streaks 
across the nose.' Some of them carried water-vessels made of buffalo- 
stomachs, on their backs. All of them carried whistles. The leader was 
painted red, wore a red robe, and carried a s])ear with feathers of many 
colors. Tlieir faces were ])ninttMl. TluM'e were four other men. nil painted 
white with black circles on their faces and forir marks below their eyes. 
'^I'hey carried spears with four bunches of eagle-tail feathers on them. Sage- 
grass was tied aroiuid the s])ears. On(> m;ni won^ a biickskin suit triumuMl 
with weasel-tails and his l)ody was painted white. There were two men 
wearing robes with the hair-side out. They wore shirts and red moccasins 
cut full of small holes. Their bodies were ))aiuted vvd with l)lack marks 



1908. 



Wissler awl IhivaU. Ulackfoot Mi/tlioloy;/. 10/ 



on the faces. Their robes were kejit in p\acc by bearskin behs, and they 
wore arm-bands of bearskin. Eaeh carriml a red bow and four arrows, 
two bkmt and two pointetl. There was a man in the rear called Brave- 
Willow. He wore a robe tanned on both sides. His face was painted red 
with a black mark across the nose. Buffalo hoofs were tied to the corners 
of his robe and a plume fastened at the back. He carried in his hand a 
willow painted red with plumes on each of the branches. 

This is the way the Braves were first found out. The mi-n with arrows 
were called Brave-Bears. 

25. Dog-Chief. 

Once there was a very nice girl the daughter of a head man, and many 
young men sought her for a wife. One of the men in the camp owned a 
very large dog. It was a brindle. One time this girl l)orrowe(l this dog. 
hitched him to a travois, and went out for wood. After this she borrowed 
him many times, and he became used to her. AYhenever became about she 
always fed him and petted him, and whenever she went for water he went 
withher. One day as the girl was going along she said aloud, "I wish you 
were a young man, then I would marry you." Now the dog heard and 
understood. That night he turned himself into a man an<l went to the 
lodge where the girl was sleeping. She awoke and found som(> one kissmg 
her. She put out her hand, felt the man, and noted that his hair was fine 
and that he had finely shaped limbs. When he went away slu> wondered 
who it could be. She never had anything to do with other men. She Imd 
two brothers, and for that reason she did not wish to say anytliing about it. 
She thought the person might have been one of her suitors. So she thought 
to herself, "If he comes, next time I will mark him." So that evening she 
took some white earth, mixed it with water in a cup, and stirred it with a 
stick:weed.i That night the strange visitor came again, and. as he caressed 
the o'irl, she rubbed some of the white earth on his hair, on his robr, and on 

o - 

his back. 

Now the next day there was a dance in the camp, and whiU- it was going 
on, the girl went out and looked around. Though she could see every man 
in the camp, none of them wore the marks of her ])aint. Now she wondered 
who he could be. As she tiu-ncd away, she saw a dog in the distance. It 



note on the wide distribution of this myth see Dorsey and Kroel)er, oP- '•",•• '.'-.-n?; 
nent of a maiden regarded l)y lier.^elf or lier parents as " '"" f ■^'j' . "'"VVAvv , .11. r<f 

the Ijest youHK man in camp, is a favorite theme amom,' the '^'i'V.^ V ,;/;.'•':,!;, '"j"*' 
ition nsukUv takes the same form, slie marries a man ol y^.t'= V'''"''V.-\ .Lfj 



1 For a 
The punishment 
wife of even tl 

Her humiliation nsiutn.v icii\e.-> iii>- .^i.m- ■«...., - .i,:, ,..>n....tiiMi «t>p 

who turns out to be a creature equally disgusting. For another example m tlii> lolleition. ste 
■p. 151. 



108 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II,. 

was her travois dog, and as he came up she saw stripes of white paint on him, 
just as she had marked her strange visitor. Now she thought to herseh", 
"It can't be the dog; but surely that is the paint. Now to-night he will 
come again, and I will try it once more." That night the man came again. 
This time she took his middle finger, and, putting it into her mouth, bit it 
very hard so as to cut it through with her teeth. Now she was the daughter 
of the chief of the tribe. The next day there was to be a dance, and she 
requested her father to order the young men to dance holding up their hands. 
Her father did this, and as they danced she looked closely at all their hands, 
but saw no bruises on them. As she looked away, she saw the travois dog 
again. As he came up, she noticed that he was lame, and when she examined 
his foot, she found that one of his toes was nearly cut in two. Then she 
went to the man and asked him for the loan of the dog to go for water. 
She put him to the travois and went. When out of sight of the camp, she 
took the dog into the brush, turned to him and said, "Here, it is you that 
visits me at night." The paint was on him yet, and he was very lame. 

Then the dog became a man, took off the travois and stood up. He 
was a fine young man. He said to the girl, "Well, it was your fault, you 
wished i'." Then the dog-man took her into the brush. The girl said, 
"Let us go far away from the camp. This is a disgrace to me." "Well," 
said the man, "I will be a dog again, and you may drive me home with the 
water; but to-night, when all the peo]:)le are asleep, we will leave the camp 
and no one will ever know about this." So they took the water home, and 
the girl got all her things together, some footl and some moccasins. Wlu^n 
it was dark, she told her mother that she was going out for a while. When 
she was out of sight, the dog-man appeared and they went away togeth(M*. 
The next morning the chief called out about the camji, asking if any one had 
seen the girl, 'i'hen the man who owned the dog called out about the camj), 
saying, "My large travois dog has gone. Has any one seen him?" 

The dog-man and the girl went far off. They were gone four years. 
They ha<l two children, a boy and a baby-giiT 'i he children were real 
people, for tiie dog-nian was now a ])ers()n. Thry all returned to the cainj) 
of the girl's ])eoj)le, and the (log-man cahed at the lodge of his former owner. 
When he came to the door he said, "Can I stay here a while?" "Yes," 
said the owner. The dog-man had ten dogs with him. One day the man 
said to him. "I'o what tril)(> do you b(>long?" "Well," said he, "1 belong 
to a tribe living far away." "Th(>n how is it," said the man, " that you 
speak our huiguage?" The dog-iuan ri'plied, " Heeausc our ])e()])l(> s])i'ak 
the same language as you." Now the dog-man always wore his moccasins, 
and whenever he had occasion to change them, he went outside, where no 
one could see him. About this the people became suspicious. ^^ henever 



1908.] Wissler ami DuroU, Blackfool Miitlmhgtj. 109 

his wife would cook a meal, he would say that he would eat outside; and 
some of the people who watched him saw that he ate his meat raw. So one 
day his former owner said to his wife, "I believe he is not a ])erson. Sup- 
pose we look at him Avhen he has his moccasins off." So one time, when 
the dog-man was asleep, they saw his foot sticking out of the bed. He had 
feet like a dog. During this time the parents of the girl began to see a 
resemblance in the wife of the dog-man to their lost daughter. They began 
to have suspicions also. Now the dog-man thought to himself, "I guess 
they know all about it." So one day he said to his former owner, "Do you 
know that I am a dog?" "Yes," said the man. "Well," said the dog- 
man, "I am your old brindle." Now the girl went over to her parents and 
told them the story. She explained ever^'thing as it had happened. 

Now, when the news was spread in the camp, all the men stood around 
and began to make remarks. They said, "Now, you see all the fine young 
men refused her: so she married a dog." Ilie dog- man was very angry 
because of this abuse, so he requested his wife's people and the people of his 
former owner to move camp that night. So they moved, ^^^len they had 
camped again, not far away, the dog-man began to call out like a dog, and 
all the dogs in the camps joined him at once. Now the people were all 
afoot because they had no travois dogs. So they held a council, and sent 
four men over to the dog-man's camp to get the dogs back; but when they 
came there the dog-man barked, and all the dogs jumped upon the four men 
and killed them. Then the people begged of him to give up the dogs. At 
last he consented. So they got their dogs back. 

Now this dog-man had a dog skin for a medicine, which he gave to his 
wife's brother. This man called in a number of young men, and organized 
a society. This society was called "The Dogs." After a time the son of 
the dog-man became a chief, and, like his father's ancestors, he was a great 
rimner. He led the buffalo over the drive, and })ursued enemies in battle. 
His sister became a good woman, a great worker, economical, etc. These 
children were real persons. There were no traces of dog in them. 

2G. Has-Scars-All-Over. 

Once when the people were in camp the young men were out chasing 
buffalo. They were trying to drive them over, but did not succeed. The 
people of the camp were a cry hungry, as they had been out of meat for a 
long time. One day while the young men were out after buffalo again, 
two young women went out from the camp to gather wood. When they 
wei'e out in the brush, tliey heard a noise over in the camp. Some one in a 



110 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural Hislonj. [Vol. II, 

loud voice was telling the people to be quiet and keep close to the camp, 
because the young men were now driving up the buffalo. The young 
women heard what was said. One of them said aloud, in the presence of her 
companion, "Leader of the buffalo, if you will lead the herd into the enclosure 
so that my people may have plenty of meat, I will take you for my husband." 

When the young women had their bundles of wood ready to draw up on 
their backs with the pack-straps, they heard a great noise. The buft'ala 
were going over. The companion of the girl who made the vow to marry 
the buffalo said, "Listen, the buffalo went over. Hurry!" Every time 
the other woman raised her bundle of wood to her back, the strap would 
break and the wood fall to the ground. When this had happened four 
times, her companion, who was very anxious to get to the camp, left her. 
When the young woman was alone, making up her bundle for the fifth 
time, she heard some one say, "1 have come for you. I want you to go 
with me." The young woman looked up in surprise. She saw a hand- 
some young man finely dressed. She was frightened. She said, "No, 
I do not have to go with you. You have nothing to do with me." To 
this the young man replied, "I have killed all my people on account of you. 
You said you would marry the leader of the buffalo if he led them over. 
I was the leader of that herd, and you know from what you have just heard 
that I have done my part." Then the young woman began to cry and said, 
"Yes, I did say that. I must keep my vow. I will go with you." 

Now all the people of the camp were busy butchering, and no one noticed 
the absence of the young woman for a long time. At last her husband and 
her relatives began to ask about her. Finally they learned that she and 
the other woman had gone into the brush to gather wood just before the 
buffalo were driven over. When the companion of the missing girl was 
questioned, she told them of the promise made in her hearing, and that she 
left the woman in the brush because her wood kept falling down. Then 
she asked the ])eople if any of the bulls h'ad escaped from the enclosure. 
Then the watchers remembered that they saw the leader of the herd spring 
over the fence and run away. Now every one was sr.re that the missing 
woman had gone away as the wife of the leader of the buffalo. 

"^rhe husband of the woman began to make many arrows. He gatliered 
all the different kinds of rock he could find to make an-owpoints. He 
made many arrows. Then he started out to hnd his wife. He travelled 
many days. One day about noon he came to the ])lace where the buffalo 
lived. While he Avas scouting, he saw a woman going down to ilie riv(>r 
for water. As he watched her he recognized his wife. He took off his 
clothing and painted himself with buffalo dung and urine. ^ Then he hurried 



1 So that lie might not be discovered by the scent of his body. 



1908.] Wisslcr awl Dumll, Black/oot Mi/tholoyy. ] ] I 

to the river, where he met liis wife. He said to her, "I have coiue to take 
you home." The Avomau hail a buffalo-horn in whieh she carried water 
to her buffalo-lover. Her husband was thirsty, and said to her. "Give me 
the horn that I may take a drink." Before she could answer, he took the 
horn from her hands and drank with it. Then she said to him, "You must 
wait here until the middle of the afternoon. That is the time when my 
lover takes a nap. When he is sound asleep I will steal away, meet vou 
here and go home with you." Then the woman filled the horn with water 
and cai-ried it to the Bull. When he was about to drink, the horn made a 
peculiar loud noise. He stopped, looked sharply at the woman, and said, 
" Some one met you and talked with you." The woman said (paietly, "Well, 
one of your young men came down to the river, took the horn from my 
hands and drank from it." "Oh! all right," said the Bull as he ])ut the 
horn to his mouth and drank. ^ When he had fallen asleep the woman stole 
awa)', met her husband at the river, and they started home. They went 
as fast as they could. When the Bull awoke and missed the woman, he 
called together his herd, and ordered them to look for her. They soon 
found the trail of the man and woman by the scent. Then the whole herd 
followed rapidly. 

As the man and woman were rimning along, they looked back and saw 
the whole herd following them. The Avoman said that the leader of the 
herd was a very powerful medicine-man. He had been shot many times, 
but nothing seemed to kill him. He has so many scars on his body, that the 
buft'alo named him Has-Scars-AU-Over. When the herd came near them, 
the woman threw down her robe. The whole herd sto])ped to hook and 
trample it. In this way they gained a start. Just before the buffalo over- 
took them again, they reached a forest. The man and woman climbed 
into a very large tree. When they were safely seated in the branches, the 
woman reminded the man again that the leader of the herd was a powerful 
medicine-man. The man said to her, "Do you know what will kill him?" 
The woman replied, "I have heard him say that white flint rock is the only 
thing of which he is afraid." The man looked over his arrows and took 
out five that were tipped with this rock. While he was doing this, he heard 
the buffalo come to the tree. As they lost the trail, the whole herd ])assed 
by, except one old scabby bull. He was so old that he could not keej) up 
with the others. When he got to the tree, he sto]>ped to rub his sides against 
it. While they were watching him from the top of the tree, the Axonian saiil, 
"I have a notion to spit on that bull." "No!" said the man. "None of 
them have seen us, and if you keep still they will not find us." The woman, 



1 To this point the incidents uru siniiliar to those in tlie Origin of tlie Hull liiind, tirinnel 
op. cit., p. 104. 



112 Anthropological Papers American Afuseum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

however, took no notice of what he said, but leaned over and spat upon the 
bull. At once he looked up, saw the people in the top of the tree and 
bellowed loudly. The whole herd came back at once. The bulls began 
to butt the tree. The man took his arrows and shot the buffalo down one 
after the other. He killed so many that they lay in heaps. Now the leader 
of the herd was a powerful medicine-man. He began to roll in the dust. 
After he had rolled over four times, he got up and shook himself. As he 
did so the dust shot straight up into the air. Then he charged ujDon the 
tree, and as his horns struck it, a large piece flew off. As he did this the 
man in the tree shot a common arrow at him; but it rebounded from his 
side without doing him any harm. The woman said, "About the fourth 
time he strikes the tree, it will fall." When the leader of the herd charged 
the second time, the man shot a white-pointed arrow at him. It entered 
his head, but did not stoj) him. When he struck the tree, one of his horns 
passed through the trimk and stuck fast. However, this split the tree, 
causing it to fall. The moment he struck the ground, the man shot another 
white-pointed arrow into him. He died instantly. When the buffalo saw 
their leader fall, they ran away as fast as they could. 

The woman came up and stood looking at the dead bull. She began 
to shed tears. The man looked at her in great surprise. He said, "Did 
you really love that buft'alo?" "Yes," re])lied the woman. ^ When she 
said this, the man took out his white-rock knife and killed her at once. 
He returned to his ]:)eople, and founded the society known as the "Front 
Tails." They were known by this name because each member wore a 
buffalo-tail upon his belt, which was hung in such a way as to be seen from 
the front. 

27. Scabby-Bull. 

Once there was a married woman. This was in the olden times. One 
year the buff'alo would not go over the drive. Every time they were brought 
up, they broke through the lines. Then, the old men consulted each other. 
One said, "It is curious how the buffalo act. Some one must be making 
power secretly." Now the husband of this woman Mas a head man. One 
day when he was talking about the strange acts of the buffalo, one suggested 
that they ([uestion the young men who formed the lines of the buffalo-drive 
as to what they observed. As they could tell nothing, they were directed 
next time to watch carcfullv. to note the leader, his age, and all his char- 



' A siinilar tale has been found anions the Crow Indians (Sinuns, op. fit., p. 322) and 
anioiiu; the .Vrapaho (Dorsey and Kroeber, op. cit., p. 423), 



1908.] Wissler and Lmall, BJaclfuot Mythology. 113 

acteristics. "Perhaps," said one, "you young men stick your heads up 
too quickly." After the next attempt to drive the buffalo, the young men 
reported that a young bull led the herd. Some said that he was middle- 
aged, and one young man said that he was an old bull. 

Now this woman was a fine-looking person. At one time she was the 
belle of the camp. She was virtuous and industrious. About this time 
the leader of the herd spoke to her. He said, "If you will go oft' with me, 
I will lead the herd over. Then I will get out and join you in the briish." 
Now the woman thought it over and said to some one, "If I had no children, 
it would be with me like the woman who married a star." ^ (The bull had 
appeared to her in a dream.) After thinking it over, she decided to promise 
to marry him because of her people. They were very hungry, and it seemed 
her duty to make the sacrifice on their account. So after a while she said 
that she would marry the bull. She really just thought it, she did not 
speak it. She was thinking of her children as she went out after A\ood. 
Presently she saw the brush where she slept when tlreaming of the bull. As 
she was starting home with the wood, she saw the buft'alo go over the drive. 
She went back with her wood as quickly as she could. 

After the buffalo were in, one bull got out. He was scabby and lame. 
He ran right through the cam]), and as he passed the woman she noticed 
red on his head. Now the woman started out for jnore wood. As she 
went out of the lodge she saw two ravens sitting close by. "Now," she 
thought, "this is strange that they should be there." As she started down, 
the ravens began flying around her head, telling her that the buffalo-man 
was coming. Now this man always had many animals and birds around 
him, — swallows, small birds, canary-birds, etc.; and while the woman 
was making up her bundle of wood many birds were flpng round her head. 
I'hen she heard the brush crack, and a man stepped out. "Hold on!" 
he said. "I am in a hurry," the woman replied, "I must get back to do 
my butchering." All this time the birds were flying swiftly around her 
head, and she lost her presence of mind, being unable to go on. "Well." 
said Scabby-Bull, "you promised to marry me in your mind. I killed all 
my relations on account of you." Then the woman consented, and they 
went off together. 

All this time the people were butchering. The husband looked every- 
where, for the woman, and after a few days began to mourn for her as lost. 
He cried, and called upon ail living things to help him to get back his wife, 
to tell him where she was, etc. As he was going about crying, he came to a 
bluebird's nest in a broken tree. He cried beside the tree, and took up 



1 This refers to the narrative of a woman wlio went to the sky to become the husband of 
the Morning Star, pp. 58-61. 



114 Anthropological Papers American Museum of A^atural History. [Vol. II, 

some of the young ones in his hand, still crying. Then the Bluebird said to 
him, "What are you doing this for?" Then the man told the Bluebird all 
that had happened. "We know who it is," said the Bluebird. "It is 
Scabby-Bull. He is a powerful medicine-man. You cannot kill him. 
We can do nothing for you. None of your arrows will kill him. You must 
take a blunt arrow, paint it yellow, and shoot him on the crown of the head. 
That will make him crazy. Then you can shoot him again. That will 
kill him. Then you must cut him open. A canary-bird will fly out, and 
you must kill it also. Xow go over to the other brush you see yonder. In 
a forked branch you will find a nest of young blackbirds. Take up one of 
the young ones, and begin to cry." The man found the nest as directed, 
and, holding one of the young ones in his hand, began to cry. After a while 
the male Blackbird said, "What are you doing that for?" "Well." said 
the man, "I have heard Scabby-Bull ran off with my wife. I have children 
at home like yours, and need help to get my wife back." "Well," said 
the Blackbird, "I can help you in one way. I can give you power to fool 
him. I have that power when around hawks, eagles, etc. Scabby-Bull is 
the leader of the buffalo herd and is protected by a number of birds. You 
go on to the next brush, where you will find an ant-hill. Upon it is a white 
stick on which an ant is sleeping. Give him food, and ask him for help." 
The man went on until he came to the Ant, when he did as directed. He 
explained all his troubles to the Ant, who promised to help him. The Ant 
said, "Go on to the next brush. You will find a couple [man and Avife] 
down there. Take some of these willows for them to eat [use]. Call on 
them for help. These people have the power of arrows." Then the man 
went on. Presently he came up to an old couple, from whom he got some 
power. The old man said, "You take two blunt arrows. Scabby-Bull 
is afraid of them. You can kill him with such arrows." The old man gave 
him medicine, leggings, and a shirt worked in porcupine-quills. He said, 
"Your arrows will be as many as your quills, and will stick and hurt like 
quills. In the next brush you will find a very quick person. Call on him 
for help." The man went on. When he came to the next brush, he foimd 
a Prairie-chick(>n with his wife and children. So th(> man took some grass- 
hop])ers and fed the chicks. "What are you doing that for?" said the 
Prairie-chicken. I'hen the man explained to him that he liad lost his wife, 
etc. "I know all about Scabby-Bull," said the Prairie-chicken. "He is a 
very smart person, guarded by many birds and animals, and very hard to 
approach. 1 will help you all I can. I can scare anything that lives. 
[This refers to the noise as a pi-aii-ic-cliickeu suddenly takes wing.] I will 
scare Scabbv-Bidl. You will find him by a sj)ring. I can take you there. 
Now go back to the old man and ask for your arrows." When the man 



190S.] Wisslcr anil Duvall, Blackjoot Mydiotogij. 115 

returned with his arrows, the Prairie-ehicken said, "You must go back to 
the Ant and feed him again. He should give you more power. He may 
give you the power to_turn into an ant. This Ant is the same one as the 
flying-ant. The buffalo and birds pay no attention to flying-ants. Seabby- 
Buh is protected by aU sorts of things, and a flying-ant is about the only 
thing that can approach him." So he went back and got the power to turn 
into an ant. The Ant said to him, "Now Scabby-Bull is abusing your wife, 
because I have been there to see." When the man got back, the Prairie- 
chicken and he started out. After a time they saw Scabby-Bull in the dis- 
tance. "Now shut your eyes," said the Prairie-chickcm. At once the man 
became a prairie-chicken, and was flying along with the other. They saw- 
all the birds flying around the herd. Then they alighted and began to feed 
with the other birds. "Look," said the Prairie-chicken, "see that herd of 
buffalo! Scabby-Bull and your wife are there. Over yonder is the spring 
where they drink." Then the Prairie-chicken said again, "Shut your eyes!" 
At once the man became a winged-ant. "Now," said the Prairie-chicken, 
"you can fly around and not be noticed." As he flew around, he saw Scabby- 
Bull Mug with his head on the woman's lap. The woman was picking lice 
from his head while he was shaking his tail. Scabby-Bull was very jealous 
of this woman. After a while he said to her, "I shall go away, but you 
are to work some moccasins for me in quills. If you have not finished them 
by the time I return, the buffalo will tlance upon you and kill you." 

Then the woman set to work on the moccasins. She called upon the 
worms [probably ants] for help.^ They asked her to sing a song while they 
worked. In this way the work was soon done. They were A-ery fine indeed. 
By this time the Ant and the Prairie-chicken were back at the spring. 
Scabby-Bull came back to the woman, took off his left horn and sent her to 
the spring for water. As she took the horn, Scabby-Bull told her that if 
any one spoke to her the horn would make a noise. ^Yhen the woman 
reached the spring, her former husband, who was now an ant, alighted on 
her ear and explained everything to her. He told her how the children 
at home were crying for her. That he needed her very much. Then the 
Avoman told him that she would go back to Scabby-Bull, and after he had 
gone to sleep she would run off'. Now when she got back with the horn of 
water, and Scabby-Bull was about to drink, the horn made a noise. At 
once he accused the woman of having met some one; but she said quietly, 
"Xo, the birds were all telling me not to look." Then Scabby-Bull asked 
the birds. They said that they had done so. 

Xow, Scabby-Bull went to sleep and the woman met her husband as 
she had promised. Then he said, "Shut your eyes!" At once the woman 

1 This seems to be a part of the Red-Head narrative, pp. 129-132. 



IIG AniJiropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

became a winged-ant. Then they flew away. The buffalo herd was so 
large that they were flying over buffalo until siuiset and even the next day. 
About sinidown the next day was the time the Ant had stated that he would 
withdraw his power. Now, as they were flying about over the herd, the 
birds and animals guarding the buffalo noticetl these ants flying along; 
but when the Ant withdrew his power, they became prairie-chickens, and 
so they flew along day after day. At last they were clear of the buffalo, and, 
becoming human beings, walked on foot. As they were going along, the 
bluebird was flying over their heads, calling out that the buff'alo were gaining 
on them. I^ooking back, the man and woman saw them coming. Then 
the woman threw off' one moccasin. When the buff'alo came up to the place, 
they stopjKMl to lick it. After a time they gained on them again, and the 
woman threw off' her other moccasin, which delayed the Ijuff'alo as before. 
The next time she threw away one of her leggings, then the other legging, 
then one garter, and then the other garter. Then she threw oft' her robe, 
then her belt, and then her dress. Each time, the buff'alo stopped, but 
gained on them again. Now they came to a tree and climbed into the toji. 
The buffalo were following on their trail. All ]:)assed by but one. In the 
rear was a scabby, lame bull who stojiped to rub his back on the tree. While 
he was doing this, the woman said, "I have a mind to spit on him." "No, 
you must not do that!" said the man. "The buff'alo have not seen us yet." 
"Oh!" said the woman, "he is such an old bull that he will not notice it." 
So she spat on him. Then the bull looked u]>, saw them in the tree and 
began to call the herd, llien the man began to shoot them with his arrows. 
He had flint-jioints, white-rock poi:its, etc. All this time the buff'alo were 
knocking pieces off' the tree, and by the time he l.ad killed all the buff'alo, 
the tree began to tremble. Now the man had but ten arrows left, and Scabby 
Bull began to make medicine to charge upon the tive. When he charged, 
he knocked off a large piece. Then as he charged again, he saitl, "I shall 
get you this time!" All this time the man was shooting his arrows at liini, 
but they made no wounds. At last he took up the medicine-arrow, shot 
Scabby-Bull in the forehead, which brought him to his knees, antl with the 
ft)urth arrow he was killed. 'Jlien the man came down, scalped Scabby- 
Bull, and biu'neii the scalp. 

Now the woman began to cry. "What I" said the man. "did you love 
that bull?" "Yes," was the re])ly. Then the man u])brai(led her, remind- 
ing her of the dangers he had gone through to rescue her and the ill treatment 
she had received from the bull. Then he knocked her down, cut oft' her 
breasts and her genitals; then those of the bull, which he thrust down her 
throat.^ So she died. 

1 That such outrages were in a way conventional is nuuie prohable by an incident noted 
by Henry, op. cit., p. 262. 



1908.] Wissler ami Duvall, Blaclfoot Mythology. 117 

28. The Horns and the Matoki. 

(a) Blood Version. 

Once a young man went out and came to a buffalo-cow fast in tlie mire. 
He took advantage of her situation. After a time she gave birth to a boy. 
When he could run about, this boy would go into the Indian camps and 
join in the games of the chiklren, but would always mysteriously disajipear 
in the evening. One day this boy told his mother that ho intended to 
search among the camjjs for his father. Not long after this he was playing 
with the children in the camj)s as usual, and went into the lodge of a head 
man in company with a boy of the family. He told this head man that his 
father lived somewhere in the camp, and that he was anxious to find him. 
The head man took pity on the boy, and sent out a messenger to call in to his 
lodge all the old men in the camp. When these were all assembled and 
standing aroimd the lodge, the head man requested the IJoy to pick out his 
father. The boy looked them over, and then told the head man that his 
father was not among them. Then the head man sent out a messenger to 
call in all the men next in age; but, when these were assembled, the boy said 
that his father was not among them. Again the head man sent out the 
messenger to call in all the men of the next rank in age. When they were 
assembled, the boy looked them over as before, and annoimced that his 
father was not among them. So once again the head man sent out his 
messenger to call in all the young unmarried men of the camp. As they 
were coming into the head man's lodge, the boy ran to one of them, and, 
embracing him, said, "Here is my father." After a time the boy told his 
father that he wished to take him to see his mother. The boy said, "When 
Ave come near her, she will run at you and hook four times, but you are to 
stand perfectly still." The next day the boy and his father started out on 
their journey. As they were going along they saw a buffalo- cow, which 
immediately ran at them as the boy had predicted. The man stood })erfectly 
still, and at the fourth time, as the cow was running forward to hook at him, 
she became a woman. Then she went home with her husband and child. 
One day shortly after their return, she warned her husband that whatever 
he might do he must never strike at her with fire. They lived together 
happily for many years. She was a remarkably good woman. One evening 
when the husband had invited some guests, and the woman ex])ressed a 
dislike to prepare food for them, he became very angry, and, catching up a 
stick from the fire, struck at her. As he did so, the woman and her child 
vanished, and the people saw a buffalo cow and calf running from the camp. 
Now the husband was verv sorry and mourned for his wife and child. 



118 Anthropological Papers Aiyierican Miiseinn of Natural History. [\'ol. II, 

After a time he went out to search for them. In order that he mig'ht ap- 
proach the buffalo without being cUscovered, he rubbed himself with filth 
from a buffalo-wallow. In the course of time he came to a place where 
some buffalo were dancing. He could hear them from a distance. As he 
was approaching, he met his son, who was now, as before, a buffalo-calf. 
The father explained to the boy that he was mourning for him and his mother 
and that he had come to take them home. The calf-boy exj^lained that 
this would be very difficult, for his father would be required to pass through 
an ordeal. The calf-boy explained to him that, when he arrived among the 
buffalo and inquired for his wife and son, the chief of the buffalo would 
order that he select his child from among all the buffalo- calves in the herd. 
Now the calf-boy wished to assist his father, and told him that he would 
know his child by a sign, because, when the calves appeared before him, 
his own child would hold up its tail. Then the man proceeded until he 
came to the place where the buffalo were dancing. Immediately he was 
taken before the chief of the buffalo-herd. The chief required that he first 
prove his relationship to the child by picking him out from among all the 
other calves of the herd. The man agreed to this and the calves were brought 
up. He readily picked out his own child by the sign. 

The chief of the buffalo, however, was not satisfied with this })roof, 
and said that the father could not have the child imtil he identified him four 
times.^ While the preparations were being made for another test, the 
calf-boy came to his father and explained that he Avould be known this time 
by closing one eye. AVlien the time arrived, the calves Avere brought as 
before, and the chief of the buffalo directed the father to identify his child, 
which he did by the sign. Before the next trial the calf-boy explained to 
his father that the sign would be one ear hanging down. Accordingly, 
when the calves were brought up for the father to choose, he again identified 
his child. Now, before the last trial, the boy came again to his father and 
notified him that the sign by which he was to be known was dancing and 
holding up one leg. Now the calf-boy had a chum among the buffalo- 
calves, and when the calves were called up before the chief so that the father 
might select his child, the chum saw the calf-boy beginning to dance holding 
up one leg, and he thought to himself, "He is doing some fancy dancing." 
So he, also, danced in the same way. Xow the father observed that there 
were two calves giving the sign, and realized that he must make a guess. 
He did so, but the guess was wrong. Innnediately the herd rushed upon 
the man and trampled him into the dust. Then they all nui away except 
tlie calf-l)()v, his juother. and an oUl l)ull. 



1 Tales of a buflfalo-cliild and similar tests occur in other tribes. See Siinnis (Crow, op. 
cit., p. 319) and J. O. Dorsey (Cegliia, op. cit., p. 140). 



1908.] Wissler and DiiraU, Blackfoot Mijtholoy;/. 119 

These three mourned together for the fate of the unfortunate man- 
After a time the okl buU requested that they examine the ground to see if 
they could find a })iece of l)one. After long and careful search they suc- 
ceeded in finding one small piece that had not been tramjjled by the buffalo. 
The bull took this piece, made a sweat-house, and finally restored the man 
to life. When the man was restored, the bull explained to him that he and 
his family would receive some power, some head-dresses, some songs, and 
some crooked sticks, such as he had seen the buft'alo carry in the dance at the 
time when he attempted to pick out his son. 

The calf-boy and his mother then became human b(>ings, and retinnied 
with the man. It was this man who started the Bull and the Horn Societies, 
and it was his wife Avho started the ]Matoki.^ 

(b) North Piegaii Version. 

Many Indians were in camp where they had made a bufialo-drive, but 
they could find no buffalo. They sent out two boys to look for the buffalo, 
and these two boys traced them to the south. Now one of the boys had the 
power of a crow and went ahead to look for the buffalo. He discovered 
that a person named White-Crow had driven all the buft'alo away. Then 
one of the boys became a black crow, and when they came back to camp 
and told the people that White-Crow had driven all the buffalo away, the 
chief said, "Black-Crow, go up and talk with White-Crow, and lead him 
off somewhere, and, while he is away, steal the buft'alo." So Black-Crow 
went out and began to talk with Wliite-Crow to lead him oft", but White- 
Crow was suspicious and wanted to go back. Then Black-Crow told him 
that he would go out himself to look for buffalo. When Black-Crow was 
out to where the men of the camp were, he advised them only to travel by 
night, and in the daytime to cover themselves up with grass. Then Black- 
Crow went back to lead W^hite-Crow away. 

Now the young men travelled along by night and finally they heard 
buffalo, but morning came before they reached them: so they hid again 
until night. Now one young man had the power of the buft'alo and turned 
himself into a buffalo. As it was about travelling-time, Black-Crow re- 
turned and saw the buffalo in the distance bunching up, so the young man 
asked him to go out to see what they were doing. When Black-Crow came 
to the buffalo, he found that they were dancing. When he returned and 



1 Several informants among the Bloods claimed that many of the functions formerlv 
exercised by the Bulls have been incorporated with the ritual of tlie Horns. The origin myth 
for the Bulls as recorded by Grinnell (op. cit., p. 104) closes with the same incidents as noted 
above, but opens with the initial event in the Scabby-Bull narrative, p. 112. 



120 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, . 

told the young men what he saw, they tokl hhn to go back and let them 
know when they danced and they would go down to see them. 

The buffalo were now scattered out all around their hiding-places. 
One of the young men became a buffalo and the other a crow. Then they 
went out to see the dance. There they saw White-Crow flying around the 
buffalo to herd them. Then the young man who had turned into a buffala 
told the crow to go back, saying, "I will stay here and become a cow, have 
a calf, and try to lead the buffalo away." 

Now in the buffalo-dance there are two bonnets of white swanskin, one 
having two horns on it, and the other one horn. Then the Cow told the 
Calf that when the dancers hung the one-horn bonnet on a stick he could 
grab it and run to her. Now the Calf expressed a desire to sit by the bull 
with the one-horn bonnet. The others tried to keep him from sitting there, 
but finally he was permitted. After a time the bull with the bonnet painted 
the Calf's face and said, "Next time they dance, you put it on." So the 
Calf took the bonnet, put it on, and led the dance. He danced around in a 
circle. Finally, when they were all through, they sat down. Then the Calf 
sat down. It was his intention to run away the next time they danced. 

Now Black-Crow came back and said to the Calf, "Go on with the dance; 
for I want to steal the dance-stick that is wrapped with swan's down." 
The calf wanted to steal the leader's bonnet so that all the buffalo would 
follow. There was still another stick, wrapped with otter-skin, and the 
Cow was to steal this. Now the Cow and Black-Crow succeeded in getting 
hold of the dancing-sticks in the same way that the Calf got hold of the 
bonnet. Now they all danced and the Calf led the dance, and, of course, 
the dancers all followed their leader. Then the Calf ran and all the herd 
ran after him; but the two with the sticks became tired, and stuck the sticks 
in the ground. Then all the buffalo lay down to rest. When the sticks 
were pulled up again, all the buffalo followed. In this way they travelled 
four nights and four days. On the fourth night, the Calf, Black-Crow, 
and the Cow had dreams in which the buffalo gave them power with the 
sticks. 

This is the way in which the Horn Society came to be. All dancers 
must have wives, for the buffalo had wives. In every medicine-dance 
there are three people, — the man, his wife, the young man. The young 
man is the crow [messenger].^ 



1 This narrative seems to be an adaptation of parts of the Twin-Brothers, pp. 50-52. For 
an account of a mother and son running away with ceremonial objects in a similar manner,, 
see Crow Myths, Simms, op. cit., pp. 289-294. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Black/out Mythology. 121 

29. The Kit-Fox. 

Once two men were out on the war-path alone. They came to a jirairie- 
dog town. They saw the dogs standing up, but, as they went near, the dogs- 
went into their holes. Then they saw a woman sitting there, and one of 
them said, "There is a woman." So they approached her. The woman's 
face was painted red, with a design made by scratching with the finger. 
She had no dress on, but just a robe around her. She wore a plume on her 
head, and held a prairie-turnip in her mouth. As the men came up she 
said, "You are invited." Now they did not know how to get down into the 
holes, so the woman said, "Shut your eyes." Then in a moment they 
heard some one say, "Oki!" When they opened their eyes, they found 
they were by the side of a lodge, and when they went in they saw the Kit- 
Fox Society sitting around. There were many men dressed like the woman. 
This was the Kit-Fox Society, and a Kit-Fox man was showing the others, 
how to perform the ceremony. He directed them through the whole ritual. 
This is how the men learned it. 

30. The Catchers. 

There was once a man called Chief-Speaking. It was his wife who found 
the buffalo-rock. One day she said to her husband, "You take the rock, 
for there will be another dream. You are to sleep on the buffalo-drive hilL 
It will be better for you to do this and have the dream, because you are a 
man and can handle medicine better than I." Now the man went out to 
the place and staid many nights, but he had no dream. So he thought tO' 
himself, "I think my wife has deceived me." Yet after he had been there 
seven days, he heard some one singing a song, and, looking round, he saw a 
procession. There were two men leading, each carrying a pipe. The others 
carried clubs with hoof rattles on them. This procession was coming down 
from the sun. 

After this, the man organized the Catchers Society, but his wife put some 
of the buffalo -rock songs into the ritual. 

31. The Buffalo's Adopted Chh.d. 

A long time ago, we don't know how many years ago, the daughter of a 
Blackfoot Indian chief was a very handsome looking girl. She was a very 
true girl. INIany young men who had asked her to marry them were refused. 
Now this girl had not been with anv man at anv time. All at once she 



122 AntJiropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [^'ol. II, 

became in a faniilv-way, and, when her time came to give birth to a child, 
she went out away from the cam]), for she was very much ashamed. Then 
she gave birth to a baby-boy which she buried in the earth. Then she went 
back to camp. The next day, four buffalo-bulls came along where she had 
buried this child. ^ They saw it. One of the bulls said to the others, "We 
will bring this child to life again, and keep him for our own." The others 
all agreed to this. They had the power to restore life. One of the bulls 
began to paw and hook the dirt away from the child until it was uncovered. 
The second bull hooked the child around imtil it came to life and started to 
crawl away. The third hooked the child luitil it was a half-grown boy. 
The last did the same until the boy became a full-grown man. Now the 
Bulls said to the young man, "You can go anil visit your people, and when 
you are through you may return to us." 

So this young man went on his way to the camp. When he came to 
his people, they did not know him. He told them his story, and they gave 
him clothes, a horse, ami a bow with arrows. "Now," he said, "I must go 
and visit some of the other Indians." Then he got on his horse and rode out. 
After he had travelled a long way, he saw a hawk and a rabbit. The haA\k 
was pursuing the rabbit. When the Rabbit saw this man, it ran uj) and 
stopped at the horse's feet, saying to the man, "Brother, help mel Don't 
let that hawk get me. The hawk wants to kill and eat me. Help me, 
brother, save me from that haAvk ! I will give you some of my power. You 
W'ill be able to run as fast as I can whenever you wish to do so." While the 
Rabbit was talking to the man, the hawk was flying around overhead, 
waiting for a chance to get the Rabbit. Now the HaAxk spoke to the man, 
saying, "I will give you my power. You will be able to riui as fast as I can 
fly, if you will let me have that Rabbit." Now the man said to the Hawk, 
"I will not let you eat this Rabbit, but I will get something else for you to 
eat." So he took the Rabbit with him and tin-netl it loose in the thick timber, 
where he knew it woiild be safe from the Hawk. Then he began to look 
for som(>thing to kill for the Hawk. He had not been looking very long 
when he saw a squirrel, killed it with his bow and arrows, took it out to 
w^here the Hawk was sitting, and laid it down near the bird, saving, "You 
can have this squirrel to eat." The Hawk was very much pleased with 
this and told the man he could have the ])ower which hv had promised him 
before. 

Now this man got power from both of them, the Hawk and the Rabbit. 
Then he went on his way again. He had not gone a gre;it distance when 
he saw a buffalo-bull. As soon as the bull saw him, it took after him, and 



1 111 a .siiiiiliar tale among the Arapalio and CJios A'entre there are seven bulls. Also in 
this folleotion, we find seven bulls restoring life to the woinaii who brought the medicine 
shields, p. 100. The Crow rendering, however, gives the number of bulls taking part in the resto- 
ration of life as four (Simms, op. cit. p. 319.) 



1908.] Wissler ami Duvall, Bhiclfont Mijtholoy)/. 123 

as soon as he knew the bull was after him, he began to whip his horse awav 
from the bull; but, as the bull was a much faster runner than the horse, it 
kept gaining on him luitil it was almost within reach of his horse. Then 
the man began to use his bow and arrows, but the arrows would not faze him. 
The bull was nearly within reach of his horse, when the man thought of the 
Rabbit and called on him for help. As soon as he called on the Rabbit, the 
horse ran much faster, and left the bull far behind. The bull followed, 
however, and after the man had gone some distance his horse began to get 
weaker, and the bull began to gain on him as before. Again he called on 
the Rabbit for power, and his horse could go so much faster that he left 
the bull far behind. He called on the Rabbit four times; then its power 
gave out. Then he called on the Hawk for power, and it helped him four 
times. Then the bull overtook him, and hooked his horse over. The 
man was thrown into a washout in a coiilee. Then the bull began to hook 
at the man, but could not reach him on account of the narrow ditch-like 
place he was in. Now the bull kept hooking away the earth around the man 
and had almost reached him with his horns, when the man saw some hawks 
flying around. Then he called on the hawks, saying. "Brothers, help me 
before this bull kills me." Ihe hawks heard the man, flew down, and 
pecked out the bull's eyes. 

Then the bull was helpless and could not see the man any more. Then 
the Bull said to the man, "Brother, give me back my sight, and I will give 
you my power, which is greater than that of all the buffalo." Then the 
man said to the Bull, "If you will bring my horse back to life, and will not 
harm me any more, I will restore your sight." The Bull promised to do so. 
Then the man told the hawks to help the Bull. The hawks flew around 
the Bull's head, and when they left him he could see as well as before. Then 
the bull went around the dead horse pawing the earth up over his back 
until the horse came to life again. Then the man got on his horse anil told 
the buffalo-bull that he was going home where his fathers were. 

The young man travelled many days before he found the four l)uti'alo- 
bulls that adopted him. They told him that they would take him to their 
home. They told him that the buffalo had a big cave near the mountains, 
and that this cave was another country where all the buffalo lived, had 
lodges, and became as human beings, just like his own ]X'oj)l(\ 'I'hey told 
him that when the buffalo came out of the caAC they would be buffalo, but 
that when they went in they became as ])eoi)le. I'hey also told him al)OUt 
their chief. They said, "Our chief is a strong medicine-man. All the buf- 
falo are afraid of him, and he is also very jealous of his wife. U" a man even 
talk to her, he will kill him." "When they got through telling him about this, 
they all started for the buffalo cave. When tlu-y reached the place they 
met many buffalo. They all went in, antl the young man was sin-i)rised 



124 Anthropological Papers Ainerican Museum of Xaturol History. [Yo\. II, 

when he saw that his fathers were as men hke himself, that there were sO' 
many people, siieh nice big lodges, and snch nice land. Then his fathers 
took him into their lodge. Xow, after he had staid there some time, he 
was down by a spring where all the people went for water, when the chief's 
wife passed by. He looked at her. She went to her lodge and told her 
husband that this young man was looking at her. When the chief heard 
this, he was very angry, went over to the young man's lodge and was going 
to kill him. Then the fathers of this young man said to the chief of the 
people, "We will fight you first; and when you kill us, then you can kill 
our son." Xow the chief was willing to do this, for he was not afraid of 
any of them. Then they all turned into buffalo-bulls and went out to fight. 
It was not long before the chief bull had killed the four. Then he went 
after the young man. The yoimg man turned into a bull, fought the chief, 
and killed him. Then the people said to the young man, "Now, since you 
have killed him, you have become our chief and may tell us what to do.'* 
The young man told them that he wanted all of them to go out of this place, 
never to return again, and that they would be buffalo from then on and 
never like people again. Then he drove them all out, and went to his own 
tribe. This is the reason the buffalo cannot talk any more.^ 

When the young man came to his own people, he went into an old 
couple's lodge, told them that as they were poor with no one to look after 
them, he would live with them and take care of them. The old man and 
woman were glad to have him. Now after he had been here a while, the 
Indians were very hungry for the buft'alo were far away. One day the young 
man asked his grandmother what she would ike to eat. The old woman 
said she wished a buffalo-calf. Jiist then the yoimg man pulled off one of 
his moccasins and threw it down by the old woman's side. As he threw it, 
it turned into a buffalo-calf. The old woman began to cut it up to cook. 
They all ate of it. The young man did this several times. The children 
of the camp would come around and the old woman would give them some 
meat to take home with them. 

Now the people began to wonder how this old woman got her fresh meat 
when the rest of them had none. 

The chief had two daughters who used to come to see the old woman. 
She always gave them some meat. Now the chief thought of having this 
young man for a son in-law, for he knew that he was a medicine-man. So 
he asked his oldest daughter to go over to live with this man, but she refused. 
Then he asked the youngest daughter. She went and marrietl the young 
man. After the young couple had lived together for a while, the young man 
said to his wife, "Go ask your father to tell the people to get ready and 

' For previous mention of a cave containing buffalo, see p. 52. 



190S.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mi/thohgy. 125 

go out to the lines, for I shall make a buffalo-drive.'' Now, as I said before, 
the buffalo were far away, but this young man had power to bring them 
back to the drive. So all the people went out to t\w Hues and waited for 
him. The young man was not gone very long when they saw a great hcrtl 
of buffalo falhng over into the enclosure. After everybody got thror.gh 
butchering, they went home. 

>,'ow the next day the yomig man said to his wife, "Go tell your father 
that I shall give a buffalo- dance. This dance is called the 'Bull's Dance,' 
and have him put up three or four lodges together so as to have a place to 
dance in, and to have the lodges close to the brush." The woman went 
over and told her father what her husband had said. The chief called out 
to the people, and the lodges were put up. Four lodges were joined to- 
gether forming a long wall, or wind-break, open on one side near the brush. 
After the people had assembled the young man went there with his wife. 
He told the men who were going to take part in the dance what to do and 
also the songs. Xow the young man said to his wife, while the rest were 
listening, "I am going into the brush, and when I come out I will show ii}) 
as a buffalo- bull. I shall prance about through the crowd as if about to 
hook some one. When I do this, you must try to catch me by the horns. 
I will pretend to hook you, but do not be afraid of me, for I will not hurt 
you. I shall run into the brush and come out four times; and if you don't 
catch me at any of these times, especially at the fourth time, I shall rim 
away for good and be a real buffalo. While I am doing this, the singing 
and dancing must go on. At first, when I come out of the brush, I shall 
be a buffalo-calf. The second time I shall be a two-year-old bull; the 
third, a three-year-old bull; the foiu'th time, a four-year-old bull." So the 
dance went on and the young man went into the brush. When he came 
•out he was a buffalo-calf prancing around as if trying to hook some one. 
Then the woman tried to catch the calf, but it made a jump at her as if to 
hook, when she ran away. The calf went back into the brush and came 
out again. This time it was a two-year-old bull. He did the same thing, 
and the woman got out of his way. Then he went back and came out as a 
three-year-old bull, and as the woman tlid not catch him this time, he went 
back into the brush. Xow the girl's father said to her, "This is your last 
chance. You must try to catch him, for he is not a real buffalo, he is your 
husband. If you don't catch him now, you will never see your husband 
again." So when the bull came out of the brush this time he was nuuli 
larger; but the woman made for him and caught him by the horns, when 
he turned back into a man, and the dance stopped. 

This was the starting of the Bull's Dance. ^ 

> This narrative is sometimes called "Tlie Iron Horns." It accounts for the origin of the 
Bull Society ceremony. It was recorded by D. C. Duvall. 



126 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. 11^ 

IX. CULTURAL AND OTHER ORIGINS. 
1. The Whirlwi\d-Boy. 

Once there was a woman Avho had given birth to many children, but all 
of them died in infancy. At last the woman said, "I will have no more 
children: if any more are born to me, I will kill them at once. I cannot 
bear to see them die as the others; and, anyway, it is no use to let them live." 
Now long after this, one time when the woman went out after water, sh(^ saw 
a small whirlwind going along. She watched it. It came dii'cctly toward 
her, and iii tlie center of the dust-whirl she saw a very small boy running 
along. The boy said to her, "]Mother, I know what you said about not 
having any more children; but it will be different with me. I shall be your 
next. AVhen I am born, you must cut off a piece of my navel-cord, put A\ith 
it sweet-grass, wrap them up, and hang the jiacket around my neck. Then 
I shall not die." When the boy finished sjieaking, the woman stooped over 
and picked him up. He was so small that she held him in the hollow of 
her hand, but in a moment he turned into a caterpillar.^ 

Then the woman was with child. When the time came, she went out 
to be delivered. It was a boy. The Avoman who attended her cut off" a 
section of the navel-cord and dried it. At first they wrapped it up with the 
baby, but afterwards they put it in a buckskin bag and tied it on the baby's 
back. This baby did not die. He grew up, and when a boy of ten or 
twelve years (the mother had no more children), a friend of the family had 
a child that was always crying. There seemed no way to make it stop 
crying. One day this boy told his mother to take one of the bones from 
the right front-foot of the buffalo. She did so. When they gave it to the 
child, it ceased crying. Xow this same woman had another child. It was 
a boy. He cried also, even more than the other. One day the Whirlwind- 
Boy recpiested his mother to rub some y(>llow paint u])on the baby's forehead, 
then to go out and i)aint one of the buffalo liones yellow. When they gave 
this to the child, hi' also sto])])ed crying, l-'rom that time on, a crying male 
child was always given a yellow-})ainted bone fi-om the right front-foot of a 
buffalo, and had his forehead ])ainted yellow. After a time the same 
woman had another child, this time a girl; and, like the others, it cried 
all the time. One day the Whirlwind-Boy re([uested his mother to take a 
bone from the left hind-leg of the Iniff'alo and ])aint it red. Also to ])aint 



' For a discussion of the peculiar association between the whirhvintl and a niotli see- 
Journal of Americ^an Folk-Lore, Vol. XVIIl, pp. 258-261. 



190S.] Wisslcrond Diivall, Blark/ont Mijtholoyij. 127 

the baby's forehead red. "When this had been done, the baby eeased to 
crv.^ This is the way ehikh-en are kept from erying, even to this da}'. 

Now "Whirlwind-Boy woiUd sometimes take the rio-ht liiiul-leg of the 
buffalo and paint one side yellow. Then he would go out and wander 
about the prairie, repeating to himself, "This bone says all the buffalo will 
go down the drive and over the cliff." Then he wo'ald throw the bone out 
in front of him. If it fell with the yellow side n]i, it would be as he said. At 
another time he would take a bone, lay a stick across it, and then drop a 
braid of sweet-grass. If the braid fell on the stick hanging, the buffalo would 
go over.- These things people do even to this day. When Whirlwind- Hoy 
was a man and his mother very old, he said to her one day, "^Nlotlier, I 
think I shall go away before you die. I do not care to be here when that 
happens." His mother asked him not to go, but he was not easily moved. 
At last, however, he agreed to take her with him. So he called tlie people 
of the camp together and requested all to watch. He took his mother over 
to the top of a high cliff"; then he went back some distance and became a 
whirlwind. When the whirlwind reached the jilace where the mother sat, 
she disappeared. Xo one ever saw them again. '^ 

2. The Bladder Story. 

Once there was a very poor boy who lived with his mother. His father 
was dead. One day his mother was ill and was about to die, but the l)oy 
said, "My mother will come to life again." She had been gored by a buffalo 
and was almost dead. She had been gored in the head. The little boy 
said, " Give me a bladder." When it was brought to him, he blew it full of 
air. His mother was lying with her head towards him. He put the bladder 
on her head and placed some charcoal on it. Then he said to his uncle, 
"You must be ready to shake the lodge four times." Then he i)ainte(l his 
mother, — a black spot on her right hand, one on the back of each wrist, 
and one on her forehead. On himself he made a circle at each place where 
he had painted a dot on his mother. Now the woman was dead, 'llie 
boy took a calf robe with the hair-side up, and beat time on it as he sang, 

1 At this point the narrator explained that a favorite game among children was the taking 
by the boys of a bone from the left hind-foot of the buffalo, and going among the girls to induce 
them to laugh. A boy would shake the bone near the girl's face, and in as comical manner as 
possible say, "I know you are going to have a lover! I know it! I know it!" Now if the 
girl laughed, it was a sure sign that she would be a bad [unchaste] woman. If she did not laugh, 
she would become a great medicine-woman, true, virtuous, etc. In a similar manner, girls 
would test boys, but with a bone from the left front,-foot. 

2 The braid of grass hanging across the stick was e.xplained as symbolizing meat hanging 
up to dry, in turn the symbol of plenty. 

3 This story accounts for some of the practices in the care of children. The navel-cord 
amulet for bovs'is in the shape of a snake; for girls, in the shape of a lizard or a horned toad. 
It was explained that the reason why Whirlwind-Boy picked out these forms was that these ani- 
mals were never sick, and enjoyed long life. 



128 Anthropological Papers American Mvseum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

"If the bladder will not move, she ■will die for good." Then he said, 
"Mother, get up I" His uncle shook the lodge four times, the bladder 
moved, the woman shook her head four times and then got up. She was 
well again. "Now," said the boy, "you see this bladder. Whatever it 
is placed upon and charcoal put on it, that object will move when the lodge 
is shaken." 

One time there was a young man in the camp with warts all over his 
head, face, and body. So he went to the boy with the bladder and asked 
to be cured. "All rigl.t," said the boy. Then he took some charcoal, 
sang the same song as before, rubbed the charcoal over the man, and said, 
"In three nights all your warts will be gone." And it was as he said. 
Then the boy told all the people that warts should be cured this way, and so 
it is done to this day. 

Now there was an old woman in the camp whose son-in-!aw had l)een 
gone a long time. So she was left without support. She asked the boy 
with the bladder to use his power to get her son-in-law back. The boy 
took a sinew from the leg of a cow [buffalo] with part of the muscle attached. 
He laid it on the ground and fastened the end of the sinew with a stick. 
Then he put some yellow paint on the sinew, near the stick. Then he put 
a live coal on the painted spot, and began to sing, "Come here, come here!" 
etc. The fire caused the sinew to draw up, and this pulled the muscle 
towards the stick. ^ Now the son-in-law, in a distant camp, felt something 
within drawing him back to his wife's people. So he determined to return. 
People are still brought back in this way. 

3. The Water-Bull, 

This is a story of the water-buftalo. There was a girl who lived in the 
water, and it was the time when the Blackfoot got the paintctl buffalo-lodge. 
This girl was rich, for her father was a chief. One time the girl went down 
to the river to bathe with the others, but when they returned they noticed 
that she was missing. The chief sent some one about the camp to look for 
her, but the last ])lace at which she was seen was the liathing-place. Now 
the chief told all the j)eoj)le that when the time came for them to move 
camp, he would stay until the water was low so that he might find her body. 
So he staid. 

On(> day the children who were ])l;iying near the stream saw the girl put 
her head out of the water. She called to them, "Tell mv father that 1 shall 



I For a similar use of siiU'W, t^t'i' Wisslcr, Dakola .M\llis v.'oiuiial of Anu'ricaii Folk-Lore, 
Vol. XX, I.. 128). 



1908.] Wissler ami Du rail, Blackfoot Mythologij. 120 

come ashore to-night." Now, when they tohl (he chief, he did not believe 
them, but in the evening they heard a noise down by thv i-i\er. There was 
a great roaring, and a voice called out asking them to make a smudge. 
So they made a smudge in the chief's lodge. Then the girl came in. Thev 
offered her food, but she refused, saying, "I cannot eat that food now, as 
I am used to other food." She then told them that her husband lived in 
the water. So her father gave her all her clothes and other property. 
"Now," said the girl, "my husband will give you food. Ihe buffalo, he 
will drown them for you, but they will be of two colors. In-own and white. 
Of these the white must be given back to him.^ 1 ^\■ill visit you every time 
you camp here." Now they watched her as she went out and saw her go 
down into the water. That night while the buffalo were crossing the river 
a great many were drowned and thrown upon the shore. I'hc peojjle found 
them of two colors. So they butchered them and fixed up the robes. 

Now the chief said to a boy, " Go to the camp of our people and invite 
them to come back." When they came in, he told them what had happened, 
and that they all must give something to his daughter. They must throw 
the gifts into the water. This they did. That night the girl came out of 
the water again and called all the people together. They gathered around 
and looked into the lodge where she sat. She invited one of her friends to 
go down into the water with her. This friend and another went down. 
She gave them a black rock to hold so that they would not float. ^Yhen 
they were in the water, the girl said, "Now shut your eyes and do not look 
imtil you hear some one say, 'Oki' !" So they went down. Some one said, 
"Oki!" and upon looking round they found themselves in a lodge. They 
were not wet and did not seem to be in the water. It was a fine place. 
There was a man in the lodge who sang them a medicine-song, and explained 
to them that whenever crossing a stream they should throw something into 
the water as an offering to the water-people. 

AVhen the women returned, they told what had happened, and to this 
day our people still throw things into the water. 

4. Red-Head.^ 

Once there was a man who lived alone with his mother, far from other 
people. It is not known that he had any other relations in the world. 
Around this lodge and in it were many live birds and animals. The man 
himself had a head [hair!] as red as blood. 



1 To sacrifice skins of albino buffalo was the custom among manj"- tribes 
- Translated by Mrs. Joseph Kipp. 



130 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. 11, 

Once a young Avoman made a long journey alone. At last she came 
to a lodge. It was Red-Head's lodge. She raised the door-flap and saw 
that the lodge was well furnished with bedding and other objects made of 
buckskin. This young woman had just been created. She came out of 
the ground. She did not know how to eat, to drink, or in fact to do anything. 
When Red-Head came home he found her in the lodge. He told her to go 
out and leave him alone. The young woman was very much afraid of him. 
So she went to an ant-hill and began to talk to the Ants. Then she cried, 
and called upon the Ants for help. She begged for some kind of power 
to enable her to live with Red-Head and secure his good will. At last the 
Ants took pity on her; and one of them said, "You get us two strips of buck- 
skin from the lodge." The young woman returned to the lodge, and stood 
outside, until Red-Head went out. Then she went in and cut the strips of 
buckskin from a hide she found hanging there. She hurried away to the 
ant-hill and laid the strips of bucksldn on it. The Ants said to her, "Now 
go away and do not come near us for one day. Leave us!" The next day, 
about the same hour, the young woman went to the ant-hill. She was 
greatly surprised to find the strips of buckskin beautifully embroidered with 
porcupine-quills. This was the first time cjuill-work was ever seen by the 
people. The Ants were the first cjuill- workers.^ The Ants said to her, 
"Now, you go (o the lodge and bring us the robe of Red-Head's mother. 
Spread it out for us on the ground where you stand, then leave us for anothei- 
day. Do not come near us. Take the strips of buckskin we have worked 
for you and hide them. No one must see them now." When the young 
woman returned on the following day, she found the rol^e worked in broad 
stripes of porcupine-embroidery. The Ants said to her, "Take the robe 
with you. Sew the strips of quill-work we gave you upon the leggings of 
Red-Head's mother. When you have done this, put the robe and the leg- 
gings at the place where the old woman usually sits, so that she and Red- 
Head may see them. You are to do this when no one is in the lodge. As 
soon as you have put them down, go out into the brush. We shall help you 
again." 

Red-Head came into the lodge carrying some meat. He saw the robe 
and the leggings lying in his mother's place. Wlien his mother came in, 
he said to her, "Mother, you do very iiice work." " What do you mean," 
she replied. Red-Head pointed to the robe and the leggiiigs. His mother 
was greatly surprised to see them. She had never seen an^'thing like them 
before. She declared she knew nothing about it. "That young woman 
must have done it," said Red- Head. "Find her and ask her to come in. 

1 See Simms, Crow Myths, p. 309. 



1908.] Wissler atuj Duvall, Blackjoot Mi/tholoyi/. 131 

I should like her to make some nioecasiiis for me. Feed her and ask her 
to make some moccasins for me." The next day the old woman invited 
her into the lodge. "When she entered, Red-Head asked her if she had 
made the robe and leggings that lay at his mother's jilace. The young 
woman told him that she had. Then Red-Head recjuested her to make 
him a pair of moccasins in the same way. The young woman tokl Red- 
Head that the making of quill-work was her medicine, and that no one 
might watch her while she did her work. If any one should look on, the 
power to do such work would be lost forever. The young wojuan took a 
pair of Red-Head's moccasins and left the lodge. As soon as she got into 
the brush, she hurried to the ant-hill. She laid the moccasins down and 
went away. AVhen she returned the next day, she found them ready. She 
took them to the lodge. Red-Head was out hunting. She laid the moccasins 
on his bed. Red-Head's mother was curious to know how the work was 
done, but the young woman carefully guarded her secret. 

When Red-Head came back in the evening, he saw the moccasins and 
was pleased with them. He requested his mother to tell the young woman 
to embroider his buckskin shirt. She called the young woman, who was 
out in the brush. The young woman came to the door of the lodge, but 
refused to enter. ^Yhen she heard what Red-Head desired, she told them 
to hand out the shirt. This was in the evening. When the young woman 
took the shirt to the Ants, requesting them to work a disk on the front and 
back, and strips over the shoulders and on the sleeves, they said that they 
could not work in the dark, and that she must wait until the next day. The 
young woman went away as before, and, when she returnetl, found the 
work complete. The shirt Avas very beautiful. She took it to the old woman 
that she might carry it to Red-Head. When Red-Head received the shirt 
from his mother he Avas greatly pleased. 

Now, the circles that had been worked upon the shirt represented the 
sun. This was due to the fact that this woman also had the power of the 
sun. A weasel gave the young woman the instructions as to the designs- 
that were to be worked upon the shirt, robe, and moccasins. The stripes 
on the robe represented the trails of the weasel. The bands on the moccasins 
represented the place where the weasels tramjied down the snow. 

Red-Head was greatly pleased with the work of the young woman. He 
wished very much to make her his Avife, but the Weasel told the young 
woman not to marry him. The Weasel told her to take a bone and to 
scrape one of the ends to a sharp point. Then to watch her chance, anil kill 
Red-Head with it as he sle])t. She did as directed. I'hen she ran away to 



132 Anthropological Papers American I\Iuseum of jS'ahiral History. [Vol. II, 

the Piegan. She hved with them, and taught them how to make qiulhvork. 
This is the way the peopk^ learned how to do it.^ 

5. The Meeting ix the Cave. 

Once a Snake [Indian] and a Piegan went out into the same coimtrv to 
hunt buffalo. Their camps were far apart. In this country there was a 
kind of cave in which scouts and hunters often spent the night. The Snake 
and the Piegan were in the habit of sleeping there, but neither had met the 
other. One winter evening the Snake arrived at the cave and put up for 
the night. After a while the Piegan came along and began to grope his way 
into the cave, for it was now dark. The Snake was asleep. As the Piegan 
was groping around, he felt a person. He took the hand of the stranger 
and began to shake it. Then the Snake asked him to what tribe he belonged. 
The Piegan took the hand of the Snake in his own, and moved it around on 
his cheek in a small circle. [This is the sign for Piegan, or the people with 
small robes.] Then the Snake took the hand of the Piegan and made the 
sign for Snake. [The sign is to move the pointing finger as if drawing a 
waving trail in the dust.] Then the Piegan took the hand of the stranger 
again and told him by signs that to-morrow they would play the stick-game. 
To this the Snake replied, "Yes." ^^^len morning came, they played the 
stick-game, and the Piegan was the winner. First he won the weapons 
of the Snake, and then all his clothes. Then the Snake wagered his hair; 
and the Piegan won this also. "Xow," said the Snake, "we will stop." 
So he tied a string around his head across the forehead. The Piegan said, 
"I shall cut the hair close." The Snake said, "No, you won in this game; 
you must scalp me." So the Piegan took his scalp. The Snake bled a 
great deal and became very weak. The Piegan left him and started home. 
As he approached his camp, he came over the hills singing. 

1 It appears from some versions that the weasel told the young woman how to make the 
various articles of clothing, and what designs to phice upon them. However, she did not do 
the work herself, but deUvered it over to the ants. In other accounts the weasel instructed her 
as to the making of a man's suit. Such suits are called weasel suits Ijecause the fringes of the 
leggings and t he sleeves are made of weasel-skins. Tlie weasel also gave lier directions as to how 
war-bonnets should l)e made. Iti most of tlie accounts it is stated that the stripes on the robe 
were to rei)reseiit the trails of the weasel. The moccasins were decorated with a single stripe 
extending from the instep to the toe. This represented the track made Ijy the weasel in the 
snow. The circular design upon the front of the shirt represented the sun; the one upon the 
back represented the moon. 

It seems, from all the accounts, tliat Red-Head was a kind of Blue Beard. He killed all of 
the women who came to his lodge, but also ail of tlie men with whom he caiue in contact. In 
one version he was killed by a man who changed himself into a woman. The birds around Red- 
Head's lodge kept warning hiiri by saying, "The woman has man eyes." Red-Head paid no 
attention to this, because lie wished to keep the young woman l,as he supposed his guest to be), 
since she appeared to have great skill in porcupine-quill work. The name of the woman is 
usually given as Woman-.\fter-Woman. This name was given her because she was believed to 
have lived many lives. By this is meaitt that, whenever she was killed, she came to life again. 

Some informants say" tliat this woman was Scar-Face (See p. 61) in disguise, who was 
sent down by the Sun to kill Red-Head. To offset lire warning given by the birds around the 
lodge, he hit upon the expedient of quill-work made by the ants and designed by the weasel. 
Tliis conforms generally to tlie above narrative, since the woman was regarded as mysteriously 
created and as having jiower from the Sun. 



1908.] Wissler and Dnvall, BlackJ'oot Mythology. 133 

After a time, the Snake in the cave revivexl and went home to his peo])le. 
He exphiined to them what had happened, telHng them that he had lost his 
scalp in a game. Ever since that time the people often speak of gambling 
as fighting.^ 

6. Why Dogs do not Talk. 

Once a man owned a very large dog. One day when his wife went out 
to gather wood, the dog followed her into the brush. Now it seems that this 
Avoman had a lover who often met her when she went after wood. The dog 
saw what was going on. That night, when the woman's husband returned, 
the dog told him what he had seen. This made the dog's master so angry 
that he beat his wife, finally knocking her down with a piece of wood. Then 
he went aAvay. After a Avhile the woman got up and began to scold the dog. 
Then she beat him, and heaped all manner of abuse upon him. She took 
up human excrement and made him eat it. She was a medicine-woman, 
and used her power in such a way, that, after this, dogs could not talk. 
They still have the power to understand some words, but not many. 

7. AYhy Women are able to stick the Poles into the Holes 
OF the Ears of the Lodge after Dark. 

Once, when a woman named Pi'nostsissI was out from the camp picking 
berries, she saw a burial-place. The body had been placed in a tree, but 
the bones had fallen down. She carefully picked them up and ]nit them 
back in their places. As she did so, she said to herself, " I do not know Avho 
you are. I do not know your name. I do not know when you died. But 
I will put you back again. I will feed you berries. Yes, I will feed you," 
etc. She kept talking all the time she was at it. Now, the next time she 
went out for berries, .'^he took some pemmican with her and gave it to the 
body. Twice again she did this. Now the ghosts- threw the woman into 
a faint, or put her to sleep, as ghosts do. While she was in this condition, 
she saw a girl ^ coming up to her. The woman was frightened, autl called 
out to the girl, "Sister, now I helped you. You should do something for 
me. You can do much for me." Then the girl said, "I will help you in 
your work." She meant by this the tanning of hides, gathering of wood 
and water, etc. Some time after this the woman was married, and every 

1 This tale is part of a loner narrative of adventure recorfled by Grinnell, op. cit., p. 63. In 
a brief account by Clark (Siyrii l.anfrtiaf,'e, p. 71) Old Man is the hero of this adventure. 

2 The dead are usually s|)<)kfn of as j,'hosts. 

s This was the ghost belonging to the bones she had replaced. 



134 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatvral History. [^'ol. II, 

time she had hides to tan she would call on the ghost-girl, and the work was 
soon done. One dark night the lodge-poles came out of the holes in the 
ears of the lodge, and the woman went out to jnit them in. As it was very 
dark, she poked the poles about without finding the holes. Then she called 
upon the ghost-woman for help, and foimd the hole at once. After this, 
every time she went out at night to put the poles in the ears of the lodge, she 
called on the ghost-woman, poked at a hole, and always hit it. 

This is the way women do to-day when the poles will not go into the holes 
in the ears of the lodge: they call on the ghost-woman to help them. They 
even call upon her for help when things are lost. 

8. Contest between the Thuxder-Bird and the Raven. 

Once the Thunder-Bird and the Raven tried their respective powers. 
The Thunder-Bird carried off the wife of the Raven and refused to release 
her upon the Raven's demand. Then the Raven made medicine. He 
caused winter with a great snowfall. It was so cold that the only way in 
which the Thunder-Bird could keep from freezing was by constantly flashing 
his lightning. Yet the power of the Raven was so great that the Thunder- 
Bird could barely keep a hole melted out large enough for his body to rest in. 
At last he was forced to give up Raven's wife. Now, when there is much 
snow or a cold wave, the people go out and call to the Raven to take ])ity on 
the people.^ 

9. The Raven Rescues People. 

Once some ])eople were stranded on an island. They were in great 
danger there. For want of food they were almost starved. They ate grass. 
Raven took pity on them. So he rescued them. He brought them to the 
mainland. Now the descendants of some of them are a tribe of Indians 
liviug far to the west, on the shores of the big water [the Pacific Ocean].- 

10. Why Grasshoppers Spit. 

Once a child saw one grassli()p])er holding another in its embrace. He 
picked them up and looked at them curiously. Then he said, "It woiild 
be better if you bled at the nose; it would be better if you bled at the nose," 
etc. He kept saying this over and over for a long time. So it came to pass 
that grasshoppers now spit, or bleed at the nose. 

1 See Griniiell (op. cit., p. 114) for an allusion to the raven's power over the thunder. 

2 This is a meve abstract of a story foriuerly known among the Piegan. However, it is 
given as toUi. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mythology. 135 

11. How Medicine-Hat got its Xame.^ 

Once there was a man named Spider whose wife ran away with a man 
named Eagle-Bull. The woman's name was Badger-Wonian. Eagle-Bull 
took the woman to a place on Elk River. They went down this river to 
a place where there was a bend in the channel, and on one side was a cut 
bank with a projecting point. Near by they made a shelter of logs. After 
a while the man told the woman that he was going to dig a pit for an eagle- 
trap: so he went up on the point. When he came back, he told her that he 
had finished the hole for the pit. Then he took some meat from the neck 
of an animal and went up to the trap. Then he fixed everything, put the 
meat on top, and went down into the trap. Now there were a great many 
eagles about, but every time one was about to alight on the trap, there was 
a sound as if some people were riding around, and at once the eagles would 
fly up. ^Yhen the man came back home, he told the woman that he hatl had 
no luck, because some one made the eagles fly away when they were about to 
alight. The next day he tried again, but the same thing hap])ened. Then 
lie prayed to this mysterious presence, asking it to take pity on him and to 
permit him to catch some eagles, promising that he would give it some of the 
feathers. Then he went down to another place to make a traj); and when 
he was in this trap he heard some one singing in the old trap. Looking 
in that direction, he saw a medicine head-dress sticking up." He could 
just see it. The song that he heard was, "I have power to call eagles to this 
place," etc. Now, while this was going on, the man heard two eagles alight 
near his trap, but some one scared them up as before. He staid in the 
trap a long time, but, not having had any luck, he went to sleep. Now in 
his sleep he dreamed he heard some one say, "If you kill your wife and use 
her for bait, it will be better." "When he awoke he thought to himself, 
"Well, I suppose I may as well do it, for I want to catch eagles." So he 
went home to his camp; but the Avoman came out to meet him, and her 
manner changed his mind. He thought to himself, "Now I ran away with 
her, and I do not like to do this.^ " He had a little bob-tailed dog, so he de- 
termined to use it for bait. He killed it, and carried some of the meat to 
the trap again. Now, while he was waiting, the dream-person spoke to him 
again, telling him that he did not eat dog-meat, and asked again for his 
wife. Now, when the man went home, he made lip his mind to get sight of 

1 The name of a place in Alberta near the present site of Medicine-Hat, the name of the 
town having been derived from the aboriginal desiffiiation. A ditTerent narrative will be found 
in Skinner's Myths and legends bevond oiir Borders. (1899). In this account tlie name is taken 
from a war-tale of a Blackfoot chief who lost a medicine head-dress and with it his i)ower in a 
fight with Cree Indians. It will be observed that our narrative accounts primarily for the 
•origins of eagle-trapping. 

2 This was a feather war-bonnet of the Dakota type. 



136 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

this mysterious person. So when he awoke in the morning he got up, 
went out at once and looked around. He saw many birds, some perched 
and others walking around. By watching them, he discovered that it was a 
raven that had spoken to him. This raven became a person. It was a 
woman, and she wore the head-dress he had seen sticking from the trap. 
Now this woman appeared before him and said, "I have been trying to help 
you. My man here wants a woman to eat." 

Now Eagle Bull was very much discouraged.' He did not know what to 
do about it. So he passed by the camp and down over the ridge, looking 
for buffalo. Once when he turned back, he saw an Assiniboine. He 
approached him, and finally tliey met. The Assiniboine was nearly starved. 
He had been looking for buffalo, but failed to find any. Eagle-Bull pre- 
tended to take pity on him, and invited him to his camp, saying, "I have 
plenty of meat. I can feed you." The Assiniboine said, "All right, but first 
I must get a drink." So they went to the water, and Avhen the Assiniboine 
stooped down to drink, Eagle-Bull knocked him on the head with a stone 
and killed him. Then he butchered him. Wlien he came home, he said 
to his wife, "Now I have some bait for the ti-ap." When he went out again 
to the trap, he put half of the bait on the old trap, saying, as he did so, 
"Here is human flesh for bait." Then he went into the other trap and 
placed bait upon it. The eagles flew down. Finally the pit was full of 
birds. So he called his wife over and told her to take them to camp, and 
all day she kept taking them over. Now all this time he coidd hear the 
dream-person in the other trap singing, as if he were greatly pleased. The 
words of the songs were, "I am eating a person. I give you all the eagle- 
trap power." Once the dream-person said to him, "You are to trap four 
days, and then quit. Put all the eagles around your camp; but the catch 
of the last two days you are to put around in the inside of the lodge." 

Now the husband of the wife was looking for her. He knew what had 
happened. He followed their trail, found their camp, and watched from a 
distance. He had another wife, whom he told of his discovery, and prom- 
ised her that he would not kill the runaways, but steal up and catch them. 
The runaway woman had taken a young child. This was the reason he 
hunted for h(>r. So he stole quietly up to the camp and saw that they were 
cooking meat. He came quietly to the door and stood there looking in. 
Then he spoke, saying, "You have many eagles." At this, Eagle-Bull 
and the woman sprang uj) badly f right(Mi(>d ; but he called to them, "Do 
not run. I shall not do you any harm. You, my wife, can have this person 
for your husband; but I want the child." Then Eagle-Bull said to him, 
"My friend, if you want your wife back for a time, it is all right with me. 
Then she can come to me again." "No," he replied. "Well," said Eagle- 



190S.] Wisslcr and Duvull, BlackJ'uot Mijlholugy. ]37 

Bull, "you see there are a great many eagles inside and outside. Take 
your choice." The man chose those on the outside. "Now," said Eagle- 
Bull, "I will give you this power also." So he transferred it to him. He 
said, "You must kill a coyote and use it for bait; when so used, you must 
turn the head to the siui and the feet to the north. (Before this time, ante- 
lopes were used.) Before you go into the trap, you must sing my song, 
ancl, standing on the south side, call out, inviting the wolf to eat and smoke; 
also the ravens, the crows, the mag]He, the eagl(\ and other birds, to come 
and get something to eat.^" Now when Spider did all this he caught many 
eagles.^ 

Now, some time after this. Spider got power from a magj)ic.'* He fed 
the magpie's children, and they told him to go to that ])lace to trap. So 
the next year he said to his wife, "We shall go back to the ])lace and tra]) 
eagles and feed the magpie-children." So they started. I'he All-Comrades 
tried to stop him, br.t he told them that he was only going after some arrows 
and would soon come back. As soon as he was out of sight, he went over 
to the place, caught many eagles, and returnetl to camp. Two days after 
he had done this, he was caught by a man who wished to sell a medicine- 
pipe.* The object of his selling was to find out where the man caught his 
eagles. Spider had many good horses; so he said, "There are my horses 
and some good travois-dogs, you can have them for the pii)e." "Oh!" 
said the seller, "I do not want such things for the niedicine-})i})e. I do not 
want an^1;hing like that. I will just give it to you. But there are two 
things I want to know. I want to know where eagles are caught, and how 
to get them. I just want to know something about them. Don't give me 
all the power for eagle-catching; keep some of it for yourself. You may 
need it. I should like to know the place for three years." "Well," said 
Spider," you can use it four years." "All right," said the man. 

So when autiunn came Spider showed the me(licine-])i])e man the place, 
how to catch eagles, and fixed him u]). They stole out of camj) so that no 
one would folloAV them. "Now," said he, "you must feed the magpie- 
children. They arc the ones that helped me. If they are gone, you must 
put food for them anyway. In the winter you must put food in the l)rush 
to feed their children." 

Now the ridge where this ha])])ened is called "Praying for ]\Iedicine" 
(si'kapis'tani). 

1 The names given to the birds in tliis invitation call are descriptive of their feathers, and 
not th€ usual names of the birds. A similar mode of speaking is often employed in prayers to 
the spirits of former medicine-men and other ilislin(,'ui,she<l men. 

- Eagle-Bull just saw the medicini' liciid-drcss. ]t was not given to him because he di<l 
not kill his wife, as directed. He did olfcr sonic of the woman's skin after the dog was refused. 
I forgot to tell you that at the time. — N.vkkatok'i* Note. 

^ This was given as an additional incident, and does not refer to the incident from which 
Medicine-Hat in said to have received its name. 

4 This refers to a ceremonial procedure by which a man is forced to receive by transfer im- 
portant medicine-bundles. 



138 Anthropological Papers American Miiseum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

Y. MISCELLANEOUS TALES. 
1. The Lost Children. 

In the time when the Indians had no horses, and travelled on foot and 
with dog-travois, many boys and girls went out on the prairie near the camp 
to play. One small boy who was the son of a medicine-pij^e man passed 
some shells. The children greedily grabbed them, leaving none for him. 
As they would give him none, he cried, and on reaching home complained 
to his father. Now the father was an important man in the camp, and it 
made him angry to think that his child had been treated in this way. So he 
ordered all the people to move camp c(iuckly while the bad children were 
out at play, thus leaving them behind. 

In the evening these children returned to the camp. Some of the larger 
girls were carrying babies on their backs. When they came in sight of the 
former camp, no lodges were to be seen. They looked about on the ground, 
each at the place where their parents' lodges had stood, picking up the tools 
and other small objects that had been left behind in the haste. The children 
said among themselves, "They have only gone a little way, leaving these 
things for us to carry." So they followed along the trail of the moving camp, 
shouting every now and then that their parents might know they were coming. 
After a while they heard an old woman calling to them. They went over 
to her lodge. She lived by herself. She in\ited the children to stay with her, 
telling them that their people must have deserted them. When night came, 
the old woman directed them to sleep with their heads toward the fire. 
She said they must do this, else the mice would come in during the night 
and eat their hair. Now this old woman was a cannibal. One of the 
girls had a little brother who had always shown some kind of power. She 
directed him to watch the old woman during the night, and if he saw any- 
thing suspicious to bite his sister's ear. During the night the old woman 
arose, took a large knife, and began to cut off the heads of the children. 
Then the baby bit the ear of his sister, causing her to wake u]). The sister 
took the baby in her arms, and begged the old woman to spare their lives. 
She promised to be a slave to her if she would spare them. The old woman 
finally agreed to this. After a while the old woman asked the girl to go for 
water. "I will take my brother with me," said the girl. " Xo, leave him 
with me," said the wt)man. "Xo," said the girl, "1 must take him along 
with me, because he needs washing." "W(^l!, all right," said the woman, 
"but be quick about it." 

When the girl came to the v(h^c of the river, she saw an Elk's Head 



190S.] Wissler an<I Duvall, Blackfoot Mythology. 139 

[skull] lying there. She said to the Elk's Head, "You repeat over and over 
these words, I am cleaning my little brother." He was to do this so the 
old woman in the lodge would think that the girl was trying to get through 
as soon as possible. Then the girl saw a Water-Bull moving along in the 
stream. She called to him, saying, "Will you please take us to the other 
side?" "I will," replied the Water-Bull, "if you will pick the lice from 
my head, and kill them with your teeth." "Well," said the girl, "1 will 
do that, if you will take us across." Then the Water-Bull came to the shore 
and laid his head in the girl's lap. At once she began to louse him. She 
took some beads, put them into her mouth, and, each time she picked a 
louse from his head, she bit on a bead so that the noise made by crushing 
them might deceive the Water-Bull. In this way she succeeded in making 
him believe that she killed the lice with her teeth. Whc-n the lice had been 
picked from his head, the Water-Bull placed the children upon his back 
and swam toward the other shore. All this time they could hear the old 
woman in the lodge calling out, "Hurry up, girl! I need that water." 
Each time the old woman said this, the Elk's Head would answer, "1 am 
busy cleaning my little brother." When the Water-Bull reached the other 
side of the river, the children found themselves near the camp of their people. 

Now the old woman got very angry because the girl did not bring the 
water, but kept calling out that she was busy cleaning her little l)r{)ther. So 
she ran down to the river to see what the trouble was. When she came there, 
she saw nothing but an Elk's Head lying on the ground, which kept saying 
over and over, "I am busy cleaning my little brother." "Oh, it's only 
you!" said the woman, "that makes all this noise." With that she took a 
stone hammer and smashed the skull to fragments. Then she looked 
out into the river, and, seeing the Water-Bull swimming along, called out to 
him, "Take me across the river?" "I will, if you will pick the lice from my 
head," said the Water-Bull, "and kill them with your teeth." "Yes, I 
will do that," said the woman, "if you will hurry, for 1 must catch those 
children." So the Water-Bull ))ut his head in the old woman's lap, and 
she began to louse him. killing the lice with her teeth. "Thev have a bad 
taste," she said to him. "You are a dirty, miserable beast! This is a 
very disagreeable thing you made me do. Now hurry and get me across 
this river." The Water-Bull took her upon his back, but, by the time he 
reached the middle of the stream, he became very angry at the old woman 
because she had spoken of him as a dirty lieast. So he dropped her into 
the stream and she was drownetl. 

Now, when the sister with her little brother saw the cam])s of her peojile, 
she was afraid to go among the lodges. So she waited until the middle 
of the night, then, with her baby-brother upon her back, searched for her 



140 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

mother's lodge. When slie fovmcl it, she went to the side of the sleeping,, 
woman, and, putting her hand on her face, saitl, "I have come." Now the 
mother of the children was afraid, because the medicine-pipe man had 
ordered all the people to have nothing to do with the bad children. So she 
pretended not to know her children. She called out as if she were frightened, 
saying, "Some strange children will not let me sleep. They are not my 
children. I never had any children." \Yhen the father of the children 
heard his wife's remarks, he also called to the chief of the camp, telling him 
that some strange children were disturbing the camp. The chief ordered 
the children tied to a tree, and the whole camp to move away at daylight, 
leaving them to die. Now there was a poor old woman in the camp, whO' 
lived alone in a little ragged lodge. She had a dog with very long hair, and 
for this reason he was called Shaggy. AYhen the old woman heard what 
had been done to the poor children, she was very much troubled. She called 
Shaggy to her side, and said to him, "My dog, when the camp is about to 
move, hide yourself in the brush, and do not make a soimd, or pay any 
attention to me when I call you. When the people are out of sight, untie 
the poor children bound to that tree." The next morning, while the people 
were busy breaking camp, the poor old woman was running about looking 
for her dog Shaggy. She called him, antl looked everwhere. She asked 
everybody she met, if they had seen her dog Shaggy. At last everybody was- 
ready, and the chief said to her, "Come on, grandmother! Do not trouble 
yourself about your dog. He will surely follow on our trail." So the old 
woman went on Avith the people, mourning all the time for her lost dog 
Shaggy. Now, Shaggy waited in the brush until the sound of the moving- 
camp could no longer be heard. Then he came out, went up to the children, 
gnawed away the thongs with which they were tied, and hurried on to over- 
take the camp. 

Now the sister knew that it would be useless to follow her pco])l(\ So 
she remained at this place to care for her little brother. The littU> brother 
became the object of some kind of power, and in a single day grew up to be 
a young man. As they had nothing to eat, the young man said to his sister, 
"I will make a buffalo-drive. You nuist stay in yorir lodge and not look 
out. If you look out, I will leave you." So the young man went away. 
After a time the sister, sitting in her lodge, heard a great noise. The sounds 
reminded lu>r of people di-iving buffalo. In h(>r surprise, she looked out. 
She saw no one except her brother standing there. "Did I not tell you to 
keep inside of the lodge?" he said. The sister took back her head, and 
did not look out again. She heard the same noise as before. Aftei" a while 
she heard her brother- call, asking her to come out. When she looked nround, 
she saw ([vaA huH'alo everywhere. "Now sister," said the young man,. 



1908.] Wisslcr and DuniU, BlucL-f,>,it Mi/lltoloyij. 141 

^'you must hiirrv with your moat, "^'ou must (Irv as much as you can. Also 
take some of the meat and hiy it arountl on the phiees -where the people 
camped. Put some of it down where each lotlge stood. Do not forget to 
put a large piece on the spot where the old woman's lodge stood." The 
young man started on a journey, leaWng his sister busy with the meat. 
After a time he came to the camp of his own people. In the evening he 
walked through the camp-circle until he came to the lodge of the poor old 
woman. When he entered, he found Shaggy asleep and the old woman 
almost starved. He gave a piece of meat to each of them. The old womaii 
told him that the people of the camp had had nothing to (>at for a long time. 
The next morning the young man went out among the ])eo]jle and invited 
them over to his camp. He told them that he lived alone with his sister, 
but that he had enough meat for all of them. No one except the old woman 
and Shaggy knew who the yoimg man was. The peo])le were very glad to 
receive this invitation, and moved back to their old ])lace at once. Thev 
found meat everywhere. At the place in the camp-circle where each lodge 
was to be, they found meat enough for a whole family. But there was one 
place where no meat was to be found. This was the place for the lodge of 
the young man's father and mother. Every one had meat except them. 
The young man invited his parents into his lodge. When they came in, 
they saw many pieces of fat hanging over their heads. "Now I shall cook 
some meat for you," he said, as he put a very tough hard piece into the pot. 
"In the meantime you may lick the fat hanging over yom' heads." When 
the meat had cooked for a long time, and had become harder than ever, 
he took it out of the pot, and said, "Now you shall have some meat." Then 
he threw the meat at his parents, striking them, and killing both. 
After this the young man and his sister lived with their pe()])ie.^ 

2. The Wo:man who got jNIeat i"rom the Cliff. 

Once there was an old woman who was very poor, and she slept out in 
the open for want of shelter. One night she slept by a cliff with a piece of 
dried meat and fat for a pillow. While she was sleeping, the rats came down 
and ate all her meat. When the old woman awoke and wished to eat, she 
found her meat was gone. The meat had been wrapped in cloth, and she 
saw some of the wrapping at a hole in the rocks. So she sat down there to 
find out who took her food. She said, "I wonder who stole this dried meat. 
I needed it very much. The people in the camp will not give me anything, 

I For another version, see Griniiell, op. cit.. p. 50. For a Gros Ventre rendering:, see 
Kroeber, op. cit., p. 102. Also an Ar;i])alu) lale, given with a note on its distribution, Dorsey 
and Kroeber, op. cit., p. 293. 



142 AnUiropologicul Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II,. 

and now I must starve. I wonder who could be so mean as to take this," 
etc. Then she began to cry, and finally went to sleep. Now the woman-rat 
down in this hole took pity on the old woman and began to scold the man- 
rat. She said, "Now it was you who took the old woman's meat, and you 
must feed her." "Well," said the man, "that is easy. We will fix it so- 
that she will get food, and so that the people will be her friends, because some 
day they will need her." Now the rat's nest was made of shedded buffalo- 
hair, and the man-rat gave this to the woman, saying, "Take a small piece 
of this, put it under any flat rock, and when you turn it oyer you will find 
dried meat." So the old woman took the nest, put it into her bosom, and 
went to her own camp. She went to the fireplace and made a fire. Then 
she took a bit of buft'alo hair, put it under a flat stone, turned it oyer, and 
found her dried meat. Then she began to cook it. Now some of the chil- 
dren saw her, and said, "Let us go oyer and see what that poor old woman 
is doing. Let us see if she is starving. Oiu- mothers said we must not go 
oyer there, because she must be dead by this time." When the children 
came up to the old woman, they saw that she hatl a great deal of dried meat. 
There were four of the children, the oldest one a girl. The old woman 
said to them, "Sit down here and I will feed you." So she gave them a 
great deal of dried meat, with fine back-fat. The children could not eat it 
all. So the old woman said, "Take it home with you." When the children 
came home, their mother said, "What have you been doing? You must 
have been eating dried meat." Then they told her all about it. 

A few days after this the children said among themselyes, "Let us go 
oyer to that old woman again." As they came up they saw her cooking 
dried meat. 1 he old woman asked them to sit down, and gave them more 
meat than before. When they came home with what they coukl not eat, 
their mother was much surprised, and said, "Why do you not invite that 
old woman to live with us?" The old woman came over and lived with 
this family. They always got food from her. She became very old, and 
one day they went away and left her again. Now she had a little bag of 
calfskin, which was always full of dried meat ami fat. She fed the children 
all they could eat, for the bag never became empty. Now, when the ])eople 
went away and left her, she was angry. She waited until the camj)s were 
seventeen days away. Then she made medicine so that the ])(>ople could 
find no buft'alo. Li a short time they were starving. One night the old 
woman put the calfskin bag down in front of her, openetl it and b(>gan to 
sing, "Children, come here, 1 will give you food. I will give you j)eniinicaii." 
That night all the children ran back to the old woman. They got ther(> in a 
single night. They said, "We are hungry. We heard your \oice and we 
came back." They all sat around eating, but th(> calfskin-bag was never 
empty. The children said, "Now all the peo])le will come after us." 



1908.] Wisshr and JhiraU, Black/out Mi/thology. 143 

The next day, when the ])eople awoke in the eanip, a man called out, 
"All the children have gone back. We must follow them. That old woman 
must have called them." So the people all went back. The woman gave 
each child a small bunch of butfalo-hair, and told each one to go up to the 
cliff and put it under a rock, and then come bac-k to her, as they must get 
meat ready for their parents. Then she sent the children back. When 
they turned over the rocks, they found large packs of meat. The children 
took their meat and })ut it around in the places where their ])arents' lodges 
always stood. Now some of the people were coming over the hill. 'J'he 
children met them, and told them that the old Avoman gave them some 
meat. After this, the people were afraid to go away and \vi\ye the old 
woman. She said, "If you leave me again, you will starve to death." So, 
when they moved, they always took her with them, carrying her on a dog- 
travois, with a very strong dog. Finally the woman died, and left her meat- 
bag with a woman, and also her power. This woman was lucky with it. 
She was the girl who first invited the old woman over to live with her. 

3. Bear-]Moccasin, the Great Medicine-Man. 

There was once a man named Bear-Moccasin, who had a chum called 
Chief-Old-Man. The reason why the former was called Bear-Moccasin 
was that he wore bearskins on his feet. He also wore a bear's ear on the 
head and a claw, but he gave them and some paint to Chief-Old-Man. 
Now Bear-Moccasin had ])owerful dreams. He said to Chief-Old-Man. 
"The reason I am going to do this is because you are a good friend of mine, 
I know you will help me. You will have a dream on account of having done 
this." "Well," said Chief-01d-I\Ian, "whatever it is, I will do it." Then 
Bear-Moccasin told him what to do if auAthing should haj)]ien. Bear- 
Moccasin put his robe down on the ground, sa}ing, "Let this robe be the 
same as myself." Then Bear-]\Ioccasin took up some paint and began to 
paint himself, saying as he did so, "If I am killed, j^aint me in this way, 
and put the robe over my body." Then Bear-Moccasin explained the use 
of the pipe and the bear-claw and taught Chief-Old-lNIan the songs. When 
all this was done, Bear-Moccasin took a loaded gun, told Chief-01d-]Man 
that an evil spirit gave him great powder, and that it came from above. Then 
he shot himself. Now Chief-Old-lNIan did as directed. He ])ainted the 
l)ody, sang the songs, held the pipe to the corpse, and Bear-ISIoccasin came 
to life. Now Bear-Moccasin had a dagger, and, painting it, he ])lanted 
it point up, in the ground. Then he began singing, and threw himself 
down upon the knife. Chief-Old-jNIan sprang u])on his back and jumjied 
up and down until the knife came through. Now \\v was dead again. 



144 Anthropological Papers American Museiim of A'atural Historij. \\o\. II, 

Then Chief-Okl-Man sang tlie songs, took the pipe, and did as before. 
Bear-Moccasin sprang up again all well. There was not even a scar. Now 
Bear-Moccasin took the knife and handed it to Chief- 01d-]\Ian. Then he 
painted his neck. Chief-Old-^Ian cut off his head and threw it down upon 
the ground. Then Chief-Old-Man took the heatl, fitted it to the body, 
covered it with the robe, sang the songs as before, took a gun, painted it and 
the bullet, and shot Bear-jNIoccasin in the head. Then he got up. In the 
next trial, Chief-Old ]\Ian shot seven arrows into Bear-]Moccasin, and as he 
fell he broke some of them. Then the robe was placed over the corpse and 
the pipe placed in its mouth, Chief-Old-jNIan saying as he went away, 
"Well, this is your smoke." As Chief-Old- jNIan was going along, he looked 
back and saw Bear-Moccasin following him, smoking. As he came up, he 
showed Chief-Old-Man all the arroAVs, telling him that two had been broken. 
Now, in the next trial, Chief- 01d-]Man took a stone hammer and an elk- 
horn whip-handle, and with these he beat Bear-]Moccasin to death. Then 
he covered up the body with the robe, sang the songs, and put the pipe to 
his mouth as before. This time Bear-!Moccasin came to life, but the upper 
part of his body was like that of a bear. In the next trial, Chief-01d-]Man 
took a new sharp axe and a new lance. With the lance he stuck Bear- 
Moccasin through and through, and cut him uj) with the axe. (Bear- 
Moccasin hatl told him before this to scratch his left foot with a bear-claw, 
but to get his horse ready and go quickly to the top of the hill, and not to 
come back again until he was called.) Now Chief- Old-INIan held his bridle 
in one hand, scratched the left foot of the corpse, leaped on his horse and 
rode off. Bear-lNIoccasin sprang to his feet, made a noise like a bear, wrestled 
with the trees, etc. After he had been a bear for a while, he lay down and 
became a man, calling for Chief-Old-Man to come tlown again. The tests 
were now finished. Bear-Moccasin told Chief-Old-^Ian that if at any time 
he should be killed, and a piece of his body, however small, could be found, 
he could be brought to life again. So they went home. 

After a time they went out with a party of their people to hrmt buffalo. 
While they were chasing buffalo, some white men came along with a })arty 
of Snake Indians, '^rhey pursued the Piegan. Now Bear-Moccasin had 
a gun and arrows. The others were not well armed. So he told them to 
run. All this time he was butchering a buffalo, and said. 'T will finish this 
before 1 run." lie was soon surrounded by the enemy, all of whom were 
shooting at him. But he kept on with his butchering and paid no attention 
to them, 'i'hen a white man came up with a sword and thrust it into Bear- 
Moccasin; but he rose up and killed the white man, and then went on with 
his l)utchering. Now there was a Pi(>gan woman with the Snakes who 
ex])laine(l to them who this man was. TIumi they realized that it was useless 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mythology. 145 

to attack such a man, and went their way. Xow the party that was with 
Bear-]\Ioccasin went home, because they thought he must have been killed. 
After a while they went back, and, while they could see nothing of their 
enemies, they could see Bear-jNIoccasin still at his butchering. When 
they went up to him, they saw that he had no woimds, and the only thing 
he said was, "Here, I have killed this white man." 

Now Bear-lNIoccasin had great power, and he could take a woman from 
any man. Xo one dared to talk against it, and every one was afraid of him. 
So he raped and seduced at will. One day he saw a very nice woman in 
camp, and decided to try her. Xow his friend, Chief-OId-I\Ian, said, "Do 
not bother with that woman, for she is the wife of our chit-f ." Bear-^NIoc-casin 
repHed, "I must have her." To this Chief-Old-Man said nothing, but he 
was not pleased. Xow, when this woman went out for wood. Bear-JNIocca- 
sin met her. There was an old woman with her. Bear-INIoccasin took 
hold of the young woman and asked her to go with him. As he was jiulling 
and coaxing her, the old woman said, "Xow you ought not to do this. This 
is a terrible thing for you to do, because she is the wife of the chief. You are 
a very powerful man, but this you ought not to do. If you must do this, 
you can have me for the sake of letting her go." " X'^o," said Bear-]\Ioccasin. 
Then the young woman spoke up and said, "Well, I suppose he must have 
his way, but first let me tie this horse up." Then, with Bear-Moccasin 
standing by, she began as if to hobble her horse, talking to the other woman, 
telling her to get some wood ready to take to camp, but not to mention to 
any one what had happened, because of the disgrace. Then she said to 
Bear-Moccasin, "You go on into the brush and I will follow." As soon as 
Bear-]Moccasin started into the brush, the young woman sprang upon her 
horse and rode away. Xow Bear-lNIoccasin was very quick. He caught 
hold of the travois; but the horse had a good start, and he was not able to 
hold on. The Avoman galloped to the camp, and told her husband, the 
chief, what had happened. 

Xow, after a while the men in the camp went out to hunt, and the chief 
saw Bear-Moccasin go with them. Then the chief went out also, and as he 
was coming home he saw Bear-Moccasin butchering. He rode up (|uictly, 
shot Bear-Moccasin full of arrows, then shot him with a gun, and finally 
cut him to pieces. Xow no one in the camp was angry. In a short time, 
Bear- Moccasin walked into the chief's lodge, saying, "Here, I bring you 
some of your arrows." Then the chief thought him a great medicine-man 
indeed. 

Bear-Moccasin had another friend, whom he also advised what to do 
in case he was killed. However, this friend went to the chief and said, "If 
you ever kill Bear-^SIoccasin again, take out his canine-teeth and burn them." 



146 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural Histor;/. [Vol. II, 

One day the same two women were out again for wood when they saw 
Bear-^Ioccasin coming. As he came up to them, he said to the young 
woman, "You got away once, but I shall lie with you just the same." Now 
everything happened as before, and the young woman agreed to go with 
Bear-Moccasin. He took hold of her sleeve to lead her along; but she took 
out her knife, quickly cut the sleeve and ran away. As she ran, she called 
out that she would tell the chief. Bear-Moccasin said that he would wait 
there for him. So she told her husband, the chief. Now the chief was 
very angry. He began to make medicine for loading his gun, and when he 
got it ready he set out, the woman carrying an axe and a hatchet. Soon they 
came up to the place. Bear-INIoccasin was lying down by the brush as if 
asleep. The chief shot him, then took out his canine-teeth, and cut his 
body into small pieces. Then he burned up the canine-teeth. Now the 
friend of Bear-]\Ioccasin came to restore him to life, but, when he saw that 
the canine-teeth were gone, he said, " I will not try to bring him to life again. 
He may do much harm. He has done much harm already, and the Ijlame 
must rest with him." Now Bear-ISIoccasin was dead for sood. 



There is another story which seems to be a version of this, or the reverse. 
Once a yoimg man had a tlream that he came to life again after being dead. 
He explained the dream to his chum, and recjuested him to try it in case he 
should die. Then, to test his power, he tried to rape the Avife of the chief 
in full view of the camp. The people called out, the chief ran out with his 
knife, and killed him. His body was cut up and burned. The jieople 
took care to burn up ever^-thing. So, Avhen the fii'e was out, the chief ordered 
them to move camp, and everybody to march over the ashes, so that every 
trace of the young man might be wiped out. Xow, after the camp had 
moved some distance, the chum of the dead man hid in the briish. The 
chief, however, watched the place to see if any one should come; but, as 
no one came all day, in the evening he went away. As soon as the chief 
was gone, the chum came out of the brush and hunted through the ashes. 
At last he found a very small piece of bone. He painted the bone, ])Ut the 
rol)e over it, and jiut a pipe there. Then taking four arrows, he shot an 
arrow up so that it would fall on the robe. Each time he did this, he shouted, 
"Look out I the arrow will hit you;" and each time the robe would move to 
one side. As he shot the last arrow, he ran away, but the tlead man rose up 
and chased him. ^I'hen the young man who had been dead went on to the 
camp. It was now night. He went into the lodge of his mother. He 
sent her over to tiie lodgt' of the chief to get some food. She was to ask the 
chief for some of the food that was for him only. This puzzled the chief. 



190S.] Wissler ami Dtinill, Blackfool Mi/tliohuji/. 147 

for all the food he sent over was refused. At last he understood that it was 
the woman that was asketl for. This he refused. Then the young man 
went over, killed the chief, cut up his body and burned it, and marched the 
peo])le over the ashes. After that he took the chief's wives, and became 
the chief himself. 

In still another version, the chief was forced to go around kissing all the 
dogs in camp, and, as it was very cold, he froze to death. 

4. The Split Feather. 

A long time ago, when the buffalo and deer were plenty, the Blackfoot 
Indians made their living by hunting. As the Indians usually camped at 
one place for many weeks, game would become scarce so that the hunters 
must ride for two or three days before they could find anything to kill. 
This medicine-man was very fond of hunting, and the greatest part of his 
time was spent in this way. He always left his wife at the camp. Now 
this man had the power of a feather, of which no one knew. He began to 
think that his wife had not been true to him, that she had been going with 
some other man. As he had the power of a feather and could use it in this 
case, he thought he would try it on his wife. So he got up early one morn- 
ing, and told his wife that he was going out for another hunt, and would not 
return for two or three days. His wife got up and went out to get some 
wood to cook his breakfast for him. ^Yhile she was out, he took this feather, 
split it down to about its middle, and placed it under their bedding. His 
wife came in and made the fire. After he had eaten the meat which she had 
cooked for him, he started out, riding one horse, antl leading another which 
he used for a pack-horse. When night came, his wife siMit word to her 
lover, who Avas a young single man. This young man came over to her, 
and she told him that her husband had gone away that day and would be 
gone for two or three days, so he could visit her that night as he had done 
before. The young man agreed to this. They occupied the bed under 
which the feather had been ])laeed. 

The next morning, before the sun was high, nearly everyboily in the camp 
had gathered around this woman's lodge. Those unable to get inside were 
standing aroimd the outside of the lodge. It was learned that the man and 
woman were fast together, and all night they had tried to sejiarate. No 
one could assist them. The father of the young man was running about, 
calling on the big medicine-men of the tribe for hel]); but tiiey could do 
nothing, as it was beyond the range of their ])Owers. Some of the older men 
advised the father to bring out his best horses and weasel suits [buckskin 



148 Anthropological Papers American Miiseian of Xaiural Histonj. [Vol. II, 

suits decorated with strips of white-weasel fur], and make ready for the 
return of the woman's husband, so that he might meet the wronged man, 
tell him what had happened, give him presents to pay for what his son had 
done, and beg for his life. 

The old man went home and got four of his best horses and the best 
things he had. These he brought to the lodge. Nearly everybody staid 
at the lodge, waiting for the hunter to return. They wanted to see what he 
would do when he came back. It was late in the afternoon when the hunter 
came in sight of the camps. He knew right away what had happened, 
because he saw so many people around his lodge. Xow they ad\'ised the 
old man to go out and meet him, and tell him about it before he reached the 
camp. So he got his horses and things and started out. He told the wronged 
husband all about the trouble. When he got through with his story, the 
husband said he would take the horses and things, and that he would not 
kill the voung man. Then thev both went to the lodge. The husband 
got off his horse and went inside. He saw his wife still lying in bed with the 
young man. He asked some of the men standing by to lift the couple off 
the bed. When this was done, he lifted the bedding, picked up the split 
feather, held it up so that all might see, then pulled it in two and threw the 
pieces into the fire. At once the young man and the woman were released. 
The young man went out with his robe over his head anil face, for he was 
much ashamed.^ 

5. The Treacherous Wives. 

Once a man had two wives of whom he was very jealous, so jealous that 
he pitched his lodge far out from any camp. He had a habit of sitting upon 
a buffalo- skull on the top of a high hill. Naturally his wives became very 
lonesome, and wished to get back to their people. So they decided to make 
way with hira, and one day they dug a pit on the top of the hill where he 
usually sat, covered it with willows and turf, put the buffalo skull back in 
its place, and arranged everything as it was before. The next day the man 
went out to the top of the hill as usual, and sat down upon the buffalo- skull. 
As he did so, the cover of the pit gaA'e way and he fell to the bottom, beneath 
the brush and (^arth. ^J'he women watched from the camp, and, when they 
saw him fall, took down their lodg(\s and moved back to the camj). AMien 
the peo])le saw them coming in, they said, "Where is your husband?" 
They re])lied, that, as he had been gone eight days, he must have been killed. 

1 Recorded by D. C. Duvall. In some versions a piece of sinew tied in a knot was used 
instead of tlu- feather. For an Arapalio rendering of this narrative, see Dorsey and Kroeber, 
op. cit., p. 45S. 



190S.] Wusler and Ditvall, Bhirk/nni Miithologij. 149 

Now the man was at the bottom of the deej) i)it, and unable to get out. A 
gray wolf happened to pass by, and, hearing some one in the ground, spoke 
to him. The man explained to the \\o\i how he had been deceived by his 
wives, and begged to be released from the frap. The gray volf promised 
to help him out if he could. So he set to work digging a tunnel toward the 
bottom of the pit ; but, when he had almost reached the man, he went out 
and called togetlier all the wolves and coyotes. "When they were all as- 
sembled, the old gray wolf had a talk with them, exj)laining that a man 
was caught in a deep hole, and that he had taken pity on this man. He 
wished to have him dug out, and promised to give him as a son to the first 
one to reach him by tunnelling. The gray wolf himself promised that he 
wouki Avait until all the other Avolves and coyotes were in their holes to their 
tails before he began to dig. As soon as the wolves and coyotes began to 
dig, the old gray wolf went to the hole which he had already dug, and, as 
soon as the others were in to their tails, he rushed down into his own hole, 
soon reaching the man. Then he drew him out, set him down upon the 
ground, and called in a loud voice, "Ho-o-o! Ho-o o! Wolves and covotes, 
you need not wear out your nails digging for the man, because I have him 
out already." This gray wolf had great power for he was the chief of the 
wolves, so the man became his son and went away with the pack.^ 

Xow the people in the camp always set traps and snares around the 
buffalo-drive to catch wolves. They had done this always, but now they 
began to notice that all the traps and snares would be sprung and the bait 
taken, without catching a single wolf. The reason was, that the man (who 
was now a wolf) would go around to all the traps and snan^s and s])ring 
them, after which the pack would eat the bait. The people knew nothing 
of this. Sometimes when the people heard the wolves at night, they noticed 
a strange voice among them, and, as they listened from night to night, they 
thought it sounded more and more like a person. They began to talk about 
it, and said, "There must be a person with the wolves who throws our 
traps." When they came to this conclusion, they decided to keep watch 
diu'ing the night until they found out why the traps were thrown. One night 
the watchers saw a large wolf go to the traps and throw them, after which 
the pack came u}) and ate the bait. Then the people decided to capture 
this man-wolf. When he came the next night to throw the traps, a largo 
number of men surrotmded him and roped him. He fought and bit viciously, 
btit they succeeded in dragging him into a lodge. When they made a light, 
they saw that he was a man with wolf hair and claws. Then they began to 
consider whether any of their people were missing, and at last they remem- 



1 A similar incident occurs in an Arikara tale, Dorsey, op. cit., p. 102. 



150 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural Hislurij. [Vol. II, 

bered the husband of the two women, and noticed that the wolf had eyes hke 
this man. They called in his two wives, who recognized him at once. Now 
the people kept the man with them, and gradually got him back to human 
ways. At last he became to all appearances a man again. After a time he 
again took his wives out from the camp, where they lived alone. One day 
he went out to visit the chief of the wolves. Now the wolves and coyotes 
became as people and lived in a large camp. The chief of the wolves invited 
the man to move over and camp with them. There were a great many 
arrows lying on the groimd aroimd the camp of the wolf-people, and the 
chief of the wolves warned the man as follows, "My son, you must not pick 
up any of the arrows you see on the ground arouml here, for they are mine." 
One day, a long time after, the man forgot the warning of the chief of the 
wolves, and jMcked up one of the arrows. Immediately it became coyote- 
dung; and all the camp, excc'pt the man and his wives, became wolves and 
coyotes again. Now the man was very sorry, and went to the chief of the 
wolves to make amends. He finally offered his two wives to them. Then 
the wolves and coyotes set upon the two women and ate them. Thus they 
were punished for their evil tloings.^ 

6. The Woman who Married a Snake. 

Now, in the olden times the Indians were travelling near the Sand-hills. 
One man had two wives, one of them very beautiful. The whole camp M^as 
moving. The horse ridden by the handsome woman was dragging lodge 
poles. Some of the poles slipped out and were lost. As they rode out of 
some brush and small cotton-wood-trees near the hills, she noticed that some 
of her poles were missing. So she said to the others, "I have lost some of 
my poles. You go on while I go back to find them." So she rode back 
and soon found the poles. As she was picking them up she saw her })eo])le 
<lisa})pear through a gap in the hills. x\s she started on, a yomig man met 
her. He wore a butfalo-robe with the hair-side out and a yellow plume in 
his hair, and his face was j)ainted yellow. He was nicely ])erfumed. As she 
tried to pass on, he headed her off, and, Avhichever way she turned, he stepped 
in front of her. "What are you doing this for?" she said. She tiid not 
know him, and thought he must belong to another tribe. "1 want you for 
my wife. I am a widower," said the young man. Then the woman began 
to fi"el dizzy, and wry soon became unconscious. When she came to her- 
self, she was in a lodge. It was a kind of underground hollow place. Chil- 

' For another version, see Grinliell, op. cit., ]>. 7S. An .Vr.iiniho rendering occurt; in Dorsey 
and Kroeber, op. cit., p. 447. 



1908.] Wissler and Diivall, Blackfoot Mythology. 151 

dren were crawling around everywhere. "These are my ehil(h"en," said the 
young man. Now she saw that they were all snakes. One little snake 
crawled up to the woman. She })icked it uj) tenderly, and began talking 
baby-talk to it. So she staid there. After a time she had two children, — 
a boy and a girl. Now, when the Snake took her, her horse went on and at 
last overtook her people. When the people saw the horse come back, they 
knew something had gone wrong. They followed back on the trail, specu- 
lating as they went along as to what could have ha])j)ene(l. At last they 
came to the place where she had tied up her poles. 'J'hen they foiuid her 
trail, but soon lost it. They looked all around, but could find no trace of 
her. Then they found another trail, but could not follow it. I'he chief 
said, "We shall camp here five days in order to search for the woman. Let 
the young men look carefully out in the brush; let everybody look for her." 
So they began to hunt. 

Now, on the morning of the second day, the snake-man told the woman 
she could go home. He gave her some medicine. He said to her, "You 
must not lie with your husband. You must never pack meat, neither must 
you pack wood. Whenever you pass this place you must bring me some 
tripe, berries, and intestines." Then she started home. As she came uji 
from below, the people of the camp saw her. To the first man she met she 
said, "I shall go out some distance from the camp. Tell my husband to 
make a sweat-house outside." When the sweatdiouse was ready, she went 
in. When she came out of the sweat-house, they noticed that there was 
water in it. Then she told the people what had hajijiened to her. She 
explained to them what the snake-man had forbidden her to do. After this 
she lived with her husband; but, whenever she passed that place, she s])ent 
a few days Avith the snake-man. Now, one time when her ])eoj)le had killed 
a great many buffalo, she forgot her jiron^ise and packed some meat on her 
back. As soon as she started to carry it, she rememljered, threw it down 
and ran to her lodge. She became very ill at once, and soon died. They 
buried her; btit her body disappeared. She went back to the snakes.' 

7. The W^oman who Married Filth. 

Once there was a young woman very much sought by yoiuig men. She 
was ciuite a belle. One day as she Avent out for wood, she saw some human 
excrement. It was most extraordinary. "Bah!" she said, "That is a ))ile. 
I wonder who could have done it." This was in tin- fall. It was frozen 
hard. 

1 A part of this tale appears in a coiifrlomerate Sun and Moon Jlyth recorded liy Grinnell 
(Journal of American Folk-Lore, Vol. VI, p. 46'). There is also a slight reseniljlante to an 
Arapaho narrative, Dorsey and Kroeber, op. cit., p. 441. 



152 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

Next day when she went after wood, she smelled something sweet and 
pleasant, and as she was looking aronnd she saw a handsome young man. 
He wore a white buffalo-robe. She fell in love with him at once and thought 
to herself, "I shall marry him." So she asked him to stop. "Why?" said 
he, but kept on going. Every time she said this, he repeated the question, 
without stopping. She ran after him, caught hold of him, and began to 
embrace and kiss him. All this time she was saying, "I will marry you. 
I like a handsome man." (At first sight of him she was nauseated.) "All 
right," said the man. She went home alone and told her father and mother 
to go out of the lodge, for, she said, "I am married to a man. I shall bring 
him here. He suits me: at last I have found one that will do." 

The next day all the men of the camp went in to see her husband. They 
thought him very fine indeed. They congratulated her. Slie lived with 
him all winter and kissed him all the time. When spring came, he com- 
plained of not feeling well. Now she was frightened, and wished to call in 
a medicine-man, but he would not consent. He said that it would be of no 
use, because he was going to die. While they were talking, a man in the 
camp saw a black cloud in the west, and called out, "Ho-o o-o-! We shall 
have a big Chinook." When the husband heard this, he kissed his wife 
farewell, telling her that he must die. They had a child : it was a boy, and 
still in her womb. He said to her, "Let us go out to walk, away from the 
camp." As they went along he caressed her, telling her to take good care 
of the child he should never see. When they were out from the camp he 
said, "I shall go into the brush." The woman called after him. She said, 
"I want to see you again." He turned back to look. As she hurried up, 
she said, "I love you, I cannot let you go," etc. She tried to kiss him, but 
he smelled bad. Then he ran. He was thawing out. The woman pur- 
sued him. After a while, she saw him fall. Now it was thawing. There 
was water everywhere. When she got to the spot there was nothing but 
excrement. The child became a chief. His name was Excrement Chief. 

8. The Woman who Married a Horse.^ 

One time when the camp was moving, one of the women walked behind 
with a travois. Some of her lodge-poles came loose and fell out on the 
ground. She stopped to fix them as the main body of her people disappeared 
over a hill. While she was tying up the poles, a very handsome young man 
approaclii-d lici-. She started on, but he stopped her by getting in front of 
her. "Why do you stop me?" she said. "I have never had anything to 

> The narrator claimed to have this from the Crows, but it was known among the Piegan 
as an old tale. For a Gros Ventre rendering of this tale see Kroeber, op. cit., p. 114; see, also, 
Dorsey and Kroeber op. cit., \). 437. 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mytholoijij. 153- 

do with you." "Well," said the man, "I want you to go whh me." So the 
woman had to go Avith him. "When the people eamped, they missed the 
woman, and, not being able to find her, concluded that she had been lost 
or captured. A long time after this, these people were camped again near 
the place where the woman was lost. Some of the people saw a large herd 
of wild horses near a small lake, and they noticed a person among the herd. 
^^^hen this was reported to the camp, all the men mounted horses and went 
out to investigate. They surrounded the herd, cut out the horses, and roped 
the person. It was a woman. She had no clothing, and her body was 
covered with hair like that of a horse. She Vas very wild, and struggled 
in the rope. As the herd of horses ran away, they heard a colt among them 
neighing as if for its dam. The men took the woman back to the camp, 
where some of her relatives recognized in her the woman that had been lost 
some time before. She was very wild, had lost the power of speech and the 
knowledge of all human things. They kept her in the camp a while, but 
finally her former husband gave up all hopes. "It is of no use to keep her," 
he said. "The only thing we can do is to send her back to the horses." 
That evening they turned her loose, and she was never seen again. 

9. The Woman with a Sharpened Leg. 

There were two women married to the same man. One of thorn was very 
jealous of the other. She went into a near by lodge and staid there alone. 
The lodge belonged to them. The family heard her pounding on something. 
All this time she was cutting down and sharpening her leg. At last she 
made it very sharp. While she was pounding, the children cried out, 
"What are you doing?" "OhI" she said, "I am hacking a bone." After 
a while, the man said to the other woman, "That woman has been pounding 
quite a while. Go over and see what she is doing. There are no bones 
over there for her to pound on." So the woman peeped in and saw A\hat 
she w^as doing. She came back and said to her husband, "She has sharj)- 
ened her leg." Now this frightened them, and the whole family ran out of 
the lodge. The woman with the sharpened leg called out, "Hold on! let 
us have a kicking- game." But they ran as fast as they could, the woman 
following. At last they came to another camp, and, as they ran by, a man 
came out. The woman with the sharpened leg said to him, " Now we kick." 
So they played the game. When the woman kicked a hole in his stomach, 
the people all scattered and ran. The woman pursued them, killing many 
by kicking. At last a warrior came up and struck her down with a war- 
club. Then they burned the body.^ 

1 For an Arapaho parallel of a man with a sharpened leg, see Dorsey and Kroeber, op. cit.,. 
p. 258. 



154 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. \\o\. II, 

10. The Womax avithout a Body. 

Once there was a ■woman whose hnsbantl had cut her head off, but the 
Head bounced along on the ground following him, saying, "You are my 
husband. I will follow you wherever you go." So the Head went on with 
him, and when they stop]>ed, it fixed up the lodges and the camp just as 
before. The head was a fast worker, but when dressing hides it did it under 
cover. Yet it was done very (piickly. The Head told the man that no one 
must watch hei- while doing this. Now there was a boy in the camp who 
was very curious, and one day he looked in. The Head always kept her 
digging stick with her and, when she saw the boy, she jiicked up the stick, 
saying "You have done wrong." Then she chased him, overtook him, and 
beat him to death. When the people .saw this they all ran. She ])iu"siied 
them. They fled across the river. The Head jumped in, and floated 
down with the current. "^ 

11. The Max Cut ix two below the "Waist. 

A long time ago, two war-jiarties started out, one many days before the 
other. Then the other party went out, and after travelling for several days 
came to a river where they camped for the night. One of the young men 
went after some water. As this man was about to di]i for the water, some 
one spoke to him. Looking all around, he saw a man without any legs. 
This crijipled man said that he was one of those who started out first, and 
that all of his jiarty were killed oft" except himself. He promised to pay the 
listener well if he would take him home. To this the young man agreed, 
picked up the crippled man, and })acked him to cam]>. When the others 
learned of this, they all made up their minds to go back: so the next morning 
they all started for home, llie young man carried his crippled friend on his 
back. 'J'he other men tried to keeji the young man from taking the cripple 
home. They said that he wordd scare all the children in the camps if they 
saw him. Now when they would feed this crippled man, his food would 
dro]) through to the ground. At last they came to a big river which they 
had to swim, so they piu the crip])le on a raft, and all the rest swam. Soon 
they all got tired, and, dropping the roj)es of the raft, swam to the shore. 
Then the crij)j)led man and his raft floated tlown the river. The cnd.-' 



' Tlicie is in tliis the susKPstioii of an incident in a Sun and Moon myth recorded liy Grinne'.l 
(.Jonnial of Auiericau Folk-Lore, Tol, VI, ]). 47); further we are reniinlled of the Rolhns Head 
found among various Indian tribes. See Dorsey and Kroel)er U)p. cit., p. 70), Also Wissler, 
Dalvota Myths (Journal of .\nieri(an Folk-I.ore, S'ol. XX, p. 190t. 

2 Recorded by D. C. Duvall. 



1908.] Wissler and DuraU, Bluckfoot Mytholoyy. 155 

12. TiiK GnosT-WoMAX. 

One time a voung man travellino- alone was sittiiiii' 1)V liis eainn-fire at 
night eating. When he had finished, he took off his okl worn nioeea-sins, 
and, thinking to himseh" how it would be if he were at home, he threw them 
to one side, saving, "Old woman, mend them for me." After a while he 
looked around for his moceasins, but they were gone. Then after a while 
he saw them again, and noticed that they had been mended. "Now," he 
thought to himself, "this is strange. I will try it again." So he said, "Old 
woman, got a lot of wood. The fire is about to go out." After a time some 
wood was piled up in the lodge. After a while he said, "Old woman, I am 
going out. You get some bedding and fix up a bed while I am gone." 
When he came back, he saw a bed made li]) of sage-grass. He lay down as 
if to go to sleep, but tletermined to watch to see who this person was. Xow, 
when the fire was out, he heard a person come in. This person said, "At 
which side shall I sleep?" He re])lied, "At the side next to the lodge." 
This person was a woman and she seemed very nice. Now he had a wif(>. 
In the morning the woman saitl, "Xow I shall get up and make a fire, but 
jou must not look at me." After a while, when the fire was burning, the 
woman said, "Xow you get up and cook." After a while the man was 
ready to get up, but he saw no one. Then he said, "Old woman, get some 
water." And, although he saw no one, the water was soon there. 

Then the man started home, but when night came, he camped. He 
said, "Old woman, fix up a war-lodge."^ Then he lay down to wait. 
When this was done, he said, "Old Woman, make a fire and cook." After 
a while, when the fire was ready, some one said, "Xow the fire is ready. 
You can cook." When the man had cooked, he ofi'ered some meat to die 
woman, but she said, "Xo, I shall not eat yet." llien the man asked the 
woman to get wood and make a bed. Everything happened as before. 
The next day they went on, and campetl as usual. On the fourth night tiie 
man was to see her for the first time. She said, " In the morning I shall 
eat." Xow, when morning came, the man looked around the lodge, and 
saw a very handsome woman sitting there. I'he woman said, "I shall live 
with you, but you nnist never strike at me with fire." - So he went back to 
his ])eople, and all went well with them. He lived with the woman for a 
long time, but one day he became very angry at her, and, taking a stick from 
the fire, made as if to strike her. As he did so, the woman ])ulled her robe 
over her head. Then the man remembereil what she had said, and tjuickly 



1 A strong shelter of poles for security against a night attack. 

2 A similar caution occurs in a tale recorded by Grinnell, op. cit., p. 131. 



156 Anthropological Papers American Museum of NaHiral History. [Vol. II, 

raised the robe. There was only a skeleton beneath it. Then he wrapped 
up the bones and buried them. Now it has boiled over. 

13. Fed by a Ghost. 

Once a man Avas camping alone [with his family]. He had gone out to 
hunt by himself. In the night they heard a voice saying, "My mother 
wants to use your pail." Then the man said to his wife, "Woman, let them 
have it." After a time the pail was brought back into the lodge, and they 
heard a voice saying, "You can eat what is in it. It is meat." Now when 
they looked into the pail they found a piece of an old lodge-cover that had 
been boiled. After a while the Ghost came again and said, "You did not 
eat it. I will give you something else." "No," said the man, "we do not 
need an}i:hing else. We ate it." He said this because they had hidden it. 
"Well," said the Ghost, "I want to borrow the pail again." So the man 
said, "Woman, let him have it." After awhile the Ghost brought the pail 
filled, and said, "Here are some ribs and tripe." Now, when they looked 
into the pail, they found some very old bones and sticks of wood, with no 
meat. The man said, "1 am hungry, but I cannot eat that." "Well," 
said the Ghost, "1 shall send out a young man to kill some game." Now 
the next morning, as the man was going out of the lodge he heard some one 
say, "Here is meat." On looking around he saw a buffalo-cow lying on 
the ground. Then he began to butcher. Now he was happy because he 
had something to eat. Now it has boiled over. 

14. Fed by a Coyote. 

Once a young man and his little brother were travelling, and got lost 
on the prairie. They were out of food and were starving. One day they 
saw a Coyote eating. They approached him. Both of them were thin, 
nothing but skin and bone. The young man spoke to the Coyote and said, 
"Give my little brother something to eat, and when I hunt I will always 
leave the entrails for you to eat." All right," saitl the Coyote, "you will be 
safe." Now the Coyote had very little left when the young man came uj): 
so he said to them, "You stay here and eat until you are strong, then I will 
take you home." There was a ridge near by, and the Coyote said, "I will 
see that you get more food, but you nuist not watch me. Now shut your 
eyes." After a while they heard the Coyote singing, "I am looking to the 
west for something to eat." [This is sung in a low soft chant, like all songs 
in children's stories.] "Now come over here." said the Coyote. So they 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Myihohyij. 157 

■opened their eyes and went over. The Coyote had a buffalo-calf. He cut 
it open, butchered it, and then they ate. So it went on from day to dav. 
The Coyote travelled along the ridge toward their home. "\Mienever the 
Coyote looked toward the west and sang his song, meat would fall over the 
ridge toward them. Thus the Coyote took them home. 

15. Riding the Buffalo. 

Once there was a white man who was a rancher. He had a great many 
tame buffalo, some of which he rode as if they were horses. One dav his 
unmarried daughter foimd a skeleton on the river-bank. It had been washed 
out during the high water. She took the skeleton home and requested her 
father to make a sweat-house and doctor the skeleton. She said, "If the 
skeleton comes to life, and it is a man, I shall marry him. But if it is a 
woman, I shall have her for a chum." Her father finally agreed to try his 
power. The skeleton came to life as the result of his doctoring. It proved 
to be a Piegan Indian. So the girl married him. Now these white people 
lived upon frogs and turtles. As the Piegan could not eat such meat, they 
asked him what he would like. He told them that his people always ate 
buffalo. So his white father-in-law killed some of his tame buffalo for him 
to eat. Now, after a time, the Piegan began to long to see his people. So 
he asked his father-in-law if he might go. His request was granted. So 
he set out with some of the tame buffalo. He rode one of them, and his wife 
another, while the other buffalo followed behind. As he came near the 
camp of his people, some one called out, "Buffalo are coming!" When they 
looked out, they said, "People are riding upon them." When they came 
near, some one said, "That looks like the man who went away and never 
came back." Now, the Indian staid Avith his people a while, and then 
decided to go back to his wife's father and mother. He took his old father 
and mother with him, and the Piegan never saw them again.' 

16. The Kutenai Black-Tail Deer-Daxce. 

This story came from the Kutenai Indians." Long ago in their camp 
•one of them died. The one that died was a man true and good. Aft(T he 
died, his spirit went away to the land of the dead to find out what was there. 



1 For a similar tale, see Griiiiiell, op. cit., pp. 2.5-2S. 

2 For many years the Blackfoot and Kutenai Indians have visited each other and exchanged 
a few ceremonies". The most important one acquired hy tlio Blackfoot seems to have been the 
Black-Tail Deer-Dance, a ceremony to aid in himiiiig deer. The narrator was the chief director 
■of this dance among the Piegan. 



158 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. 11^ 

When he had been there a while, the spirit tokl him to return to his people 
and tell them what was there. He had been dead seven days, and his body 
was badly decomposed ; but the spirit of the dead took his spirit down to its 
body and he came to life. He came to life in the midst of his friends. Now 
it was this way: the watchers around the body heard a noise inside of the 
corpse, but all the while the spirit of the deail man was sitting near, saying- 
that he was trying to sing. So they quickly unwrap])ed the body. Then 
the man opened his eyes, and, looking at them, saitl, "I have come from 
the land of the dead. I have come to teach you more songs and prayers." 
Then he rose and picked up a small bell. Now all the people were very 
hungry, for they had nothing to eat for a long time. The man said, "Now 
we will dance." So he led the dancers round in a circle, and, keeping time 
with the bell, sang the songs he had learned when in the land of the dead.. 
When the dance was over, the people rested while he prayed for them. 
Then they danced again. They all slept that night, and when they awoke, 
the man who had been dead said, "I know all about power. I saw it in my 
dream. You can believe that there is such a jjlace." Then the men went 
out to hunt and brought home a great deal of meat, and after that the dance 
was called the "Black-Tail Deer-Dance." Now every one takes part in 
this dance before he goes out to hunt. They dance in the evening and at 
nig-ht thev can see in tlreams where game is to be found. 



Once again when a Kutenai Indian was out in the mountains, he was 
buried in the snow, but his dog got him out. The man, however, was dead. 
The dog went home and by his action induced the man's wife to follow. 
The man had been dead four days. The woman carried the body home. 
There were two children in the family and they had nothing to eat. The 
Avoman said to the children, "Now yoiu- father is dead. We shall starve. 
We cannot get away." Now that night the woman remembered the story 
of the man who went to the land of the dead, that he came to life again hy 
singing songs, etc. Then she prayed that her husband might l)e brought 
to life and food given them. While she was doing this, two young men 
came in suddenly and told ln'r that the s])irits would hel]) lu>r. They said, 
"Let lis have a dance that your hi)sl)and may get back his lif(\" So they 
began to dance, and danced all night. When daylight came, they stopped^ 
One of the young men stood at the head of the cor])se and the oth(M- at the 
foot. Till' one at his head covered the face of the corpse with a l)Ia(k cloth. 
The one at the foot touched the dead man on the breast. Then the one at 
the head took off the black cloth and the corpse ojiened his eyes. 'J'hen one 
of the vouiiii" men walked on his chest uiuil he became ahve. ( )iie of the 



1908.], Wissler and Di( call Black/out Mi/tltohji/. [o\) 

young men gave him a cross and directed him to })ray to it and never to ])art 
with it. Now in the Black-Tail Deer- Da nee they sing the same songs they 
sang that niffht. 



Again, in very ancient times there was a woman who had the skin of an 
otter with the skull fastened to it. She was a medicine-woman. One 
day she challenged the others as to whose medicine was the strongest. She 
said. "Let us see who can kill others by touching them." Then the woman 
took a small pail of water, put in some earth, and, taking a mouthful of the 
mixture, sprinkled it upon the head of the otter. Then she stood Ijy tiic 
door where the people were dancing, and, holding out the otter-skin, spat 
water from her mouth towards the dancers, and whoever was struck fell 
down dead. "When they were all dead, she took some branc-hes of the 
pine-tree, placed them on coals of fire, and held the otter-skin in the smoke. 
Then she rubbed the otter-skin and the people all came to life again. 



One time last winter [1902] I visited the Kutenai Indians. I was dancing 
the Black-Tail Deer-Dance with them. One of the dancers said to me, 
"Xow look at my body." So I watched his body, and as he danced a large 
cross appeared on his breast and a similar one on his back. As soon as he 
stopped tlancing, the cross disajipeared. Then we began to dance again. 
This time he said to me, "Xow look above and below." AVhen I looked 
down at his feet, I saw the cross on the ground: when I looked at his head. 
I saw the cross above, with rays like the sun. 

17. The Horxed-Toad and the Frog. 

There were two lakes near each other. A Horned Toad was going from 
one of them to the other to see his girl. His girl was a Frog. At last he 
got to the lake and coaxed the Frog to go back with him. So they started 
off. The Frog went very fast and the Honied-Toad was panting behind 
calling out, "Waitl Wait!" All this time it was raining very hard. After 
a while the Frog said, "Let us go back. It is too far. We shall never get 
there." "Xo," said the Horned-Toad, "it is not far." When they were 
about halfway over to the lake, it stopjied raining. Tlieii the sun came 
out very hot. It was very, very hot. The Horned-Toad began to give out. 
He seemed about to have a sunstroke. So the Frog j)asseil water over his 
back. This revived him for a little while, but soon he began to weaken; 



160 Anthropological Papers American Mvsevm of Natural History. [Yo\. II, 

^nd the Frog did as before. In this way they managed to get along until 
the Frog reached her limit. Now the Horned-Toad was nearly dead. 
The Frog was holding him up, and struggling along, crying. When they 
were nearly dead, it began to rain again. Then they started on much 
refreshed. At last they reached the lake. Then they were married. Now 
it has boiled over. 

, 18. Turtle Goes to War. 

Once there was a lake with many camps on its shores. This was a long 
time ago. One day a Turtle came to the shore. He went up to a lodge, 
crawled into it, and found a woman asleep. When the man came home, 
he saw his wife's head in the centre of the lodge. Her head had been 
cut off by the Turtle. He saw the Turtle trying to pull it toward the back- 
rest, but it was too heavy for him. As he pulled he sang, "Turtle has hair 
[head]." The Turtle held the head by the braids. 

Now, the people laid hold of the Turtle. One of them said, "We will 
make a big fire and burn him in it." Then they began to make a big fire. 
All this time the Turtle was trying to get away from the people who were 
holding him, to get into the fire. Then the people said, "He must belong 
in there. The fire must be his place." Then some one said, "Let us 
smash him between two rocks." When the Turtle heard this, he ran and 
got upon a rock himself, ^^^len the people saw this, they said, "He must 
have come out of the rock. He is too willing. Let us hang him." So 
they brought a piece of sincAv and made a loop; but the Turtle took it out 
of their hands and put it around his neck. Then the people said, "He is 
too willing. We cannot kill him that way." Then some one suggested 
throwing him into the deep water. As soon as the Ttu'tle heard this, he 
began to cry and pull back. The people said, "Now Me have it. We have 
found out what will kill him." So they threw him into the deep water. 
When the I'urtle was in the centre, he came to the surface, floated on his 
back and then on his breast, singing, "Turtle has a scalp! turtle has a 
scalp!" 1 

19. The Warrior's Dilemma. 

One time when a war-party went out, they sent a young man ahead to 
scout. It was dark. As he was going along he saw a lodge all by itself. 
He went up quietly and looked in. There was no one in the lodge except 
a man, his wife, and a little child. The little child could just walk and was 
amusing itself by dipping soup from the kettle with a small horn-spoon. 

1 This is a common myth in the Mississippi basin. See Cegiha Myth, J. O. Dorsev, p. 271; 
Wissler, Dakota Myths, (Journal of American Follc-Lore, Vol. Xx, p. 126). 



1908.] Wissler awl Diii-dll. Hhickfoot Mi/thohgy. Kil 

The man and his wife were busy talking and ])aid no attention to the eliild. 
Now the child happened to look up and saw the man peeping through the 
hole, and at once toddled over to the kettle, dipped up some souji in the 
spoon and held it to the man's lips. He drank it and the child returned to 
the kettle for more. In this way the child fed him for many minutes. Then 
he went away. As he was going along down to his party, he thought to 
himself, "I do not like to do this, but I must tell my party about this lodge. 
\^^len they know it, they will come and kill these people. Now this little 
child fed me, even when 1 was spying upon them, and I dp not like to have 
it killed. Well, perhaps I can save the child; but then it would be too bad 
for it to lose its parents. No, I do not see how I can save them, yet I cannot 
bear to have them killed," etc. So he sat down and thought it over. After 
a while he went back to the lodge, went in and sat down. While the man 
w^as getting the pipe ready, the child began to feed him again with the spoon. 
After he had smoked, he told the man all about it. He explained to him 
how he had come as a scout to spy upon them, and that he was about to 
bring up his war-party, but that they had been saved by the little child. 
Then he directed the man to go at once, leaving everj-thing beliind him 
in the lodge. 

Now, the man was very thankful, and offered to give him a medicine- 
bundle and a suit of clothes; but the young man refused, because he knew 
that his party would suspect him. Then the man suggested that he might 
place the bundle near the door, behind the bedding. When the war-party 
came up and dashed upon the lodge, he could be the first to capture it. 
(All the important property of the lodge is always kept at the back, opposite 
the door, and, when a war-party rushes in, the swiftest runs to this place.) 

Now the young man went back to his party, told them he had found 
a lodge, but that he had not been up to it or seen any one. Then they 
started out at once, and, when they came near the lodge, they set up a 
whoop and rushed upon it. Now the man kept to the rear, and as his com- 
panions were counting coup on the various objects in the lodge, he stood at 
the door looking around. At last he picked out the bundle and counted 
coup on it. Now his companions were suspicious, and they said, "Oh I 
we know how you did this. You warned the people so that they went away, 
and then you hid these things by the door, that you might get them." They 
accused him and threatened him, but still he denied any knowledge of the 
people, or as to how the bundle came to be there. Yet the peo|)le were 
always suspicious of him, and he was always looked upon as the man w lio 
betrayed his war-party in order to make a capture.^ 



1 This narrative and the one that follows usually provoke a discussion, in which some 
condemn all or parts of the scout's acts, while others defend them. Such tales are looked upon 
as ethical puzzles to which no satisfactory answers can he given. So far nothing of this kind 
among other tribes has come to our notice. 



162 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. II, 

20. A Warrior's Duty and his Love. 

Once a scout going out from his party saw a camp. There were just 
two lodges. He stole up, and in the smaller one he saw a woman alone. 
She was beautiful, and struck his fancy. He went back and waited. At 
midnight he crept into the lodge and spent the night with her. In the 
morning he went away. 

He was the leader of the war-party, and on one pretext and another 
kept them under cover while he made nightly visits to the woman. He did 
this for four nights. Then his feeling for the woman began to assert itself. 
He thought of plans to save her. He might lead her away and kill the 
others; but they were doubtless her relations and she would mourn for 
them. Then, if he married her, they would be his relations. Yet he was 
the leader of a war-party, and had discovered an enemy. At last he brought 
the woman and her relations to the camp of the war-party, telling them that 
he had married the woman. Then they went home, and though she was 
of hostile tribe, they lived together. 

21. The Wolverene-Wom.'U^. 

These Indians have a belief that there are animals with power to change 
into human beings. Of these the wolverene is one. It often happens that 
when a man is out hunting, or sitting alone by his campfire, a very hand- 
some woman will come up. Now if he offers her some of the entrails from 
his butchering, she will take them daintily between the thumb and the 
forefinger and then throw them away. This is the sign by which she may 
be known. Should the man take up his gun, the woman will run away as a 
wolverene. On the other hand, should he allow her to come into camp and 
engage in familiarities, evil will follow. As soon as he gets home and smells 
the fire of the lodges, he will fall down dead. Sometimes he will only faint 
when he smells the fire of the lodges; but even then he will nev(>r be the 
same person again. When men go out to hunt, they are often reminded to 
keep a lookout for the Wolverene- Woman. When a woman is out alone, 
the Wolverene- Woman will appear as a fine young man. If the woman 
permits herself to be seduced, it will he bad for her. As a rule, her people 
will never hear of her again; but, should she start back to cam}) and smell 
the fire of the lodges, she will surely die.^ 



' For another example of the effect of camp-smoke, sec Ciiiinell, op. cit., p. 133. This is 
not a formal narrative. While the wolverene i.s a \vell-k)io\vn nivthical (•lKinut''r, there are no 
specific myths in which it appears. The Deer-Woman of the Dakota, and the Wolf-Woman 
of the Pawnee, described by Bu.sh Otter, seem to einl)0(ly the same coiiciiiiioii as is expressed 
in the aliove (Eleventh .\muial Report of tlie Hm-eaii of .American Etiinolosy. pp. 4S(), 481). 



1908.] Wissler and Duvall, Blackfoot Mythology. 163 

22. Seven-Heads. 

These Indians have a myth of a seven-headed person who made a busi- 
ness of devouring young women. One time a man came along where some 
animals were disputing over a piece of meat. The man settled the quarrel, 
and in return they gave him some power. With this power he went and 
killed Seven-Heads, after which he married a princess. Then the thunder 
stole her, but he rescued her by killing a lion, then an eagle which flew out 
of the lion, then a rabbit which came out of the eagle, then a dove which 
came out of the rabbit, etc. This story is believed by the Indians to have 
been brought in by the French.^ 

23. The Sand Hills. 

Once a man was hunting buffalo near the Sand Hills. That is where the 
dead go. He killed a buffalo, and when he went up to butcher it, he saw 
a man come towards him, whom he knew to be a dead man. He was very 
much afraid so he said to the dead man, "Now I will di\dde up this buffalo 
with you, but first I must go back here and bring up my pack-horses. You 
can go on with the butchering." The man lied, for as soon as he reached 
his horse he mounted and galloped away. A long time after this, the man 
was back in the same part of the country, and thought to himself, "I will go 
to get the arrow-points I left at the place where I killed the buffalo." When 
he came to the place, he found the skeleton of the buffalo and also his arrow- 
points. As he looked up, he saw the same man he had seen before. The 
man spoke to him, and said, "My friend, where have y-ou been? I have 
been waiting for you all this time." This frightened the man so much that 
he sprang upon his horse and galloped away at great speed. Shortly after 
he returned to his camp, he took sick and died.^ 

1 The above abstract was recorded by D. C. Duvall. For note on the distribution of this 
narrative, see Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths, p. 57. It is iulcresliii!? to note that our Blackfoot 
informant expresses the same opinion as to the origin of this myth as attril)Ule(l to Mrs. La 
Fleche, an Omaha, J. O. Dorsey, op. cit., p. 126. 

- See Grinnell, op. cit., pp. 12.5, 132. 



Printed hij Edward W. Wheeler, Cambridge, Mass. 



:S 



^ 



>9 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 270 286 6 



